Do the spirit and the sense of place influence the quality of life of inhabitants? Is it possible to find any relationship between the reactionary behavior of inhabitants of the so-called French banlieuse and the lack of sense of place? The social-architectural evolution of those quarters, developed in Rome by the Institute for Social Housing at the beginning of the 20^th century, gives us possible answers to the problems of cities nowadays and the improvement in the quality of life. The quarters, built for the working classes, are considered as the best examples of urban-architectural composition of the 20^th century. The real estate market valued houses, like the historical center, and the inhabitants are extremely proud of their neighborhoods, differently from what is happening in more recent times.

I remember when, in 1990, still as a student of architecture, I made my first trip to Paris. I was terrified by the mass of new buildings as well as by the ones being constructed to satisfy Mitterand's Grandeur fancy. What was terrifying was not the character of these new places, but the abomination they were realizing around Paris, in the new `neighborhoods' such as La Défense (Figure 1) and La Villette and in the so-called Villes Nouvelle (Figure 2) like Cergy Pontoise, Préfecture, Marne la Vallée, etc.

My friends, all students of architecture, were fascinated by the new Parisian buildings and, according to the lobotomy received in the School of Architecture, they were repeating the same old story inculcated in them as students: "… at least, here in France they build! It is not like in our country, where everything is forbidden. Here you can breath true Modern Architecture!" I couldn't understand why they were so enchanted with such shameful things and failed to realize that those peripheries were like powder kegs, ready to explode soon.

Even if nobody spoke about modern slavery, the truth is that France, in order to satisfy Mitterand's vagaries, `imported' a lot of low-cost labor from her former North African colonies. This labor was used in construction yards, but was never allowed to live in the city and was relegated to the peripheries, paid next to nothing and lived in dormitory towns. In these places, there were no spaces for socialization. Except for the presence of local transportation, no public utilities, nor social services, were provided to these people.

Architecture Journal, Sense of place, Urban Sociology, French Banlieuse, Villes Nouvelle, Town Planning, Violence in the Suburbia, Social Housing, Urban Sociology, Industrial Revolution, Social Relationships.