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Origin and history

The Cité Napoléon, located at 58-60 rue de Rochechouart and 25 rue Pétrelle in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, is the first working-class city in the capital. Built between 1849 and 1851 by architect Marie-Gabriel Veugny, it was commissioned by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, then President of the Second Republic, to meet the needs of healthy housing for Parisian workers. This project was part of a desire to reconcile the working class after the revolts of 1848, while inspired by English models of social housing studied by a delegation sent in 1850.

The initial programme, based on the proposals of the Labour Parliament of 1848, provided for families able to accommodate 400 families, with collective services (food, heating, hygiene). However, the project was reduced and the idea of an abandoned workers' association, reflecting the political tensions of the time. The city, composed of four buildings around a wooded garden, was innovative in its architecture: the main building, along Marguerite-de-Rochechouart Street, avoided the barracks aspect thanks to bridges and a glass roof connecting two bodies of parallel houses.

The dwellings, equipped with toilets and sewage disposals on each floor, provided rare hygienic conditions for the time. Rentals ranged from 100 to 300 francs depending on the equipment (heating, cooking). The city also included social services: free medical visits, day care, laundry, and public baths. Despite these advantages, she was not well received due to her strict regulations (coverage at 10 p.m.) and her appearance considered too prison. Inaugurated on 18 November 1851, it remained an isolated example in Paris, criticized both by the conservatives (fear of revolutionary dens) and the socialists (ghettos under surveillance).

The City of Napoleon was adjacent to the Godillot military workshops, whose fire in 1895 threatened the neighborhood. Ranked a historic monument in 2003 for its facades, roofs, and common areas, it was restored in 2011, including its iconic footbridges. Its history reflects the tensions between social innovation and political control under the Second Empire, as well as the limitations of the first labour housing experiments in France.

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was interested in the labour question as early as 1844 with his essay De l'extinction du paupérisme, albeit focused on agricultural settlements. His election as a Member of Parliament for Paris in 1848, supported by some of the workers, allowed him to launch this project. The company founded in 1849, with a capital of 6 million francs (including 500,000 francs of presidential donation), illustrates the initial ambition, quickly tempered by the political realities and reluctance of the beneficiaries.

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