Local development. It is quite rare to see a 16th century castle and a national estate in the middle of the city, and what’s more, a few meters from the town hall and the church. This is the case in Villers-Cotterêts, a town of 10,500 inhabitants where the influx of visitors to the Cité de la langue française brings new life. Like many municipalities in Hauts-de-France, Villers-Cotterêts has suffered deindustrialization since the 1990s: as a result the unemployment rate there is 17% according to INSEE, above the national average. However, the city center does not resemble that of a neglected city, the shops are numerous and the activity is palpable on market days. There is no decrepit facade on the white stone buildings and houses, and there is even a frenzy of renovation: Mayor Franck Briffaut (FN then RN) prides himself on encouraging owners to renovate their homes, the majority of which date from the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century. The historic monument classification of the castle undoubtedly helps to maintain a dapper air to the surrounding facades (five hundred meter rule). These renovations are important because the city has little land reserve, in the only area not surrounded by forest to the south. Between the restaurants which line the two main streets and the clothing stores which display prices worthy of the Paris region, the city gives the impression of economic dynamism.
Villers-Cotterêts is not typical of the disaster-stricken municipalities which elected a National Front mayor, as noted by Franck Briffaut, a member of the FN since the end of the 1970s. We note, however, that as in many towns which passed to the National Front, the town lack of infrastructure: there is no hospital, no large museum or theater, and only one high school (admittedly European, with a bilingual English curriculum). The main cultural facility is the cinema located opposite the City, with a family program of around ten films each week. The opening of the City therefore constitutes a unique advantage for the city, both economically and culturally. The mayor specifies, for example, that since November 2023, restaurant turnover has more than doubled. He adds that the City project is of a magnitude that we see “rather in Île-de-France than in a town in Aisne”with repercussions on traffic in the city center. However, visitors to the City do not stay in Villers-Cotterêts for more than a day, which does not create additional activity in the rare hotel establishments (the city has a capacity of around a hundred nights). The direct rail connection to Paris in fifty minutes encourages visitors to come easily, but makes Villers-Cotterêts a large suburb in the eyes of Ile-de-France residents. Other tourist sites can motivate the public for a longer stay, such as the National Necropolis which houses 2,500 graves of soldiers from 1914-1918 and is part of a memorial tourism circuit. Franck Briffaut specifies that “ the city cannot depend solely on the Cité de la langue française” although this constitutes its main asset.
If the City’s attendance record is very positive, interactions with the city are currently inconclusive. Paul Rondin still reports the passing of the Olympic flame, and joint activities during the Francophonie summit in early October 2024. Villers-Cotterêts is home to the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas, a few hundred meters from the Cité de la langue française , and it is part of a circuit of writers’ houses. But there is no common program with the City, despite the attempts of the mayor and the management of the City (the two parties pass the responsibility on to each other). According to Paul Rondin, an agreement is being drafted to regulate the uses of the site with the city, which delights the mayor who displays a desire for cooperation with the City, while criticizing part of the programming. The year 2025 should make it possible to test the synergies between the city and the City, and to see how the initial dynamic develops in the medium term.