Social housing in the Hauts-de-Seine departement one hundred years later

In the 1920s, when Henri Sellier launched a vast social housing programme in the Paris region, he did so in response to the strong population increase in low-income groups and the added concern to create ‘cities which represent their inhabitants in conditions which are aesthetically and hygienically irreproachable and which also offer the maximum amount of comfort at the lowest possible price.’ One century later, the Hauts-de-Seine OPDH (Office Public Départemental de l’Habitat : housing department for the Hauts-de-Seine département) is perfectly in line with this ideal and tries to reconcile its task to supply social housing with its role as a town planner who is concerned about the quality of life, both for its clients and for those living in the rest of the département.