With sociologist Jean Viard, research director at CNRS, we are talking today about the demonstrations and gatherings of this weekend of November 20 and 21 in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique, rallies against excessive real estate pressure in Brittany, pressure which is notably the consequence of tourist rentals, but also purchases of second homes which are increasing and urban exodus.
franceinfo: What explains this urban exodus?
Jean Viard: Yes you like, I think this pandemic has shaken up our societies in an absolutely incredible way. And basically, we just have to tell ourselves that we have all been sick. There are those who obviously had the Covid, we stayed locked up at home, we reflected on life, etc. and deep down, we’re waking up, a bit like someone who had cancer and who says to himself: I’m healed, what do I do with the time I have left?
It is estimated that there are 4 or 5 million people who have already moved. There are 10 to 15% who ask themselves the question, but it’s the same in romantic breakups, there are a million couples who have exploded, etc. There are lots of employees who have resigned. Basically, the question is: what is the meaning of the life I lead, who I lead it with, where I live, how I raise my children, is it really worth working so much, could I not work a little less, even if it means living on a lower rent, for example? This is what arises.
You have several million French people on the move, along the railroad tracks. Last year, we sold 800,000 second homes, but I don’t know which ones will be inhabited all year round at the end of the year. And just like the 3.5 million second homes that there used to be in France, there are certainly tens of thousands that will in fact be inhabited year round. And people will say: I will go to Paris, Marseille or Lyon two days a week. All this is in upheaval.
And fundamentally, we understood one thing during the pandemic, it is that the big metropolises, it is a brilliant place of crossroads, meetings, business, etc. But basically, you don’t have to live there. And so, I believe that this is the idea that is being organized in space.
And what consequences for those who see these urbanites arriving?
There are two things because when they arrive, they buy or they rent. So, there are people who are happy, it is those who sell or the owners. And then, on the other side, there are local people who can find that there is competition, these urbanites have more money because they are often paid from the wages of the big cities, which are more more important than the wages of small towns or the countryside. So there is competition.
Afterwards, if you want, you have to be careful. It is an old movement of French society. The population of the countryside and small towns has been increasing for 20 or 30 years, not everywhere, there are places that do not work. This is why we should not generalize too much. But basically, anyway, it’s been 20 or 30 years since it was like that. Look at Paris: Paris has been losing 10,000 inhabitants per year for the past five years already. So the movement was already there, looking for an art of living where we see nature, we see the countryside, we have a garden where children play ball. And it was already there.
Basically, the pandemic has accelerated that, and therefore there is competition. I think it is especially violent in areas with strong cultural autonomy, for example the Basque Country. I think it can play out in certain corners of Brittany, in places where people say to each other but hey, if they arrive too many somewhere, we are no longer at home. In real life, French society is extremely mixed. We must always remember that 50% of people do not live in the department where they were born, about half of the population, and in addition, those who live in the same department have often moved. Let’s not overdo a caricature of a province where everyone has been there for 14 generations and of the big, shady, shady metropolises. That’s not how it works, but there are some tight spots in some places. There may also be political uses during an election period.
What use do you think of, for example?
It is identity discourse that we hear at the national level on the place of immigration, we can very well have, I would say, identitarians who have remained local who will basically hold the same discourse. That’s why we have to be careful. It’s a little dangerous. On national surveys, for example, 60% or 70% of people tell you that there are too many foreigners. But when the Elabe firm worked on this, these numbers come from their studies, only 20% of people find that there are too many foreigners where they live. You see, if you are asked the question in the abstract, that’s one thing, but in real everyday life, it’s a small minority. I believe that it is necessary to have these figures in the head not to give too much importance to the phenomenon.