Enjoy our slide show of the garden city of Suresnes.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a genuine social housing policy was introduced in France, with the "Garden City" urban concept first devised in England. In the context of a workers' housing crisis, a solution was sought to ease congestion within Paris and create a self-sufficient housing project on the outskirts of the capital.
Henri Sellier, who was the President of the Public Office for Affordable Housing (OPDHBM) in the Seine Department, Minister of Public Health and later the Mayor of Suresnes, initiated a total of 15 garden cities in the Île-de-France region. A truly utopian concept, these cities were often developed in green and leafy areas, and set out to provide a solution to the hygienist concerns of Sellier's contemporaries.
The team at MUS (the Museum of Urban and Social History) organises regular tours of the Garden City of Suresnes, as well as the newly renovated 'show flat'. For more information, please contact MUS on +33 (0)1.41.18.18.75 or at mus@ville-suresnes.fr
In 2018, the Suresnes Tourist Office joined the Association régionale des cités-jardins d'Île-de-France (Regional Association of Garden Cities Île-de-France), which aims to preserve, enhance and promote this aspect of the area's heritage.
The Garden City of Suresnes was awarded the "Heritage of Regional Interest" Label in July 2018.
Moyen / Suresnes Tourist Office
