The Grand Parisian metropolitanization and other cultural heritage projects. A comparison of the abandoned Reille convent in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and the Maladrerie housing complex in Aubervilliers

The ongoing conflict surrounding the densification project at the former Reille convent in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and the urban renewal of the Maladrerie, a unique housing estate in Aubervilliers, show the role of heritagization via appropriation by inhabitants, in the face of metropolitan urban development. The mobilizations, which in the first case stems from participatory democracy and in the second from a working-class stronghold, rely on a fragile omni-heritagization to defend ordinary towns. They are becoming increasingly widespread and well-networked thanks to a poly-militant approach encompassing heritage, environmental, social, and politial issues.