Situated on the Mediterranean coast in southern France, Marseille is the country’s second-largest city, with a population of approximately 875,000. It serves as the core urban centre within the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, established in 2016.
With around 1.9 million inhabitants, this is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris. The Metropolis holds key competences in housing, urban planning, climate policy, and flood management.
Overview
Historically a port city, Marseille rose to prominence as trading and industrial in the 19th century, especially linking France to its former colonies in North Africa. Despite post-industrial decline and the loss of colonial territories, the Port of Marseille remains a key element of the city’s economy and identity and the largest in France.
As a harbour city, Marseille holds a long-standing identity as a gateway for migrants and a vibrant, multicultural urban centre with a rich history and a scenic coastline. Unlike most other French cities, where poverty is concentrated in the suburbs ( the banlieues), Marseille’s poorest neighbourhoods are located in the city’s historic centre. This has contributed to its negative reputation for being more insecure and insalubre than other major French cities. In response, national and local institutions have invested heavily in the city’s old centre in recent decades, leading to higlhy contested processes of gentrification and touristification.
The city is marked by deep socio-spatial inequalities. It has the highest poverty rate among France’s major cities and is one of the most segregated. Affluent areas in the south – near beaches and hills – contrast sharply with the poorer central and northern districts, which present high rates of substandard housing and limited access to green spaces.
These patterns stem from decades of public housing policies that concentrated low-income housing in the northern districts . Although recent years have seen an increase in middle-class development in this area, the extent to which this has led to social mixing remains contested .
The historic city centre has long housed working-class and migrant populations, particularly those of African origin, following the 19th-century departure of the bourgeoisie to the southern neighbourhoods. Today, it continues to exhibit the lowest income levels in the city and highest concentration of recent migrants.
Substandard housing remains one of the city’s most pressing issue challenges. This was tragically demonstrated in November 2018, when two buildings collapsed in the historic Noailles district – one of them owned by the city – killing eight people. In the aftermath, over 1,300 residents were evacuated within weeks due to the risk of further collapses. By 2020, more than 5,000 people had been displaced from over 600 unsafe buildings.
Map of Marseille districts
Climate risk
Squeezed between the sea and the mountains, Marseille—like many other Mediterranean regions—faces regular extreme weather events. These include intense downpours, typically occurring in late summer and early autumn, which often trigger rapid and severe flooding . According to all future scenarios outlined by the IPCC, such extreme events in the Marseille region are expected to become more frequent because of climate change. Projections include warmer and higher air temperatures, an increase in the number of extremely hot days and ‘tropical nights,’ shifts in seasonal rainfall patterns, more severe droughts, extreme weather phenomena such as storms and heavy rainfall, and rising sea levels .
Marseille has been designated as a Flood Risk Area (Territoire à Risque Important d’Inondation, TRI). Since 2000, the city has experienced several major flooding events, notably in September 2000, December 2003, October 2021, August 2022, and October 2024. These events have caused significant damage and required the evacuation of large numbers of residents. Two main types of flooding phenomena underpin Marseille’s TRI designation: (1) The overflow of three rivers that flow through the city—the Huveaune, the Jarret, and the Aygalades. (2) Surface runoff across the urban area.
However, a critical challenge remains: the lack of comprehensive data and mapping on surface runoff, which continues to hinder effective implementation of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (SLGRI).
Climate adaptation policy
Flood risk in Marseille is addressed through two principal policy frameworks. The first one stems from the National Flood Risk Management Strategy, which is then operationalised through a series of plans and strategies at the basin and local levels. The second policy group concerns Urban and Climate Policies and Planning, which manage flood risk at urban level and oversee the crucial articulations between urbanisation and flooding.
Climate change adaptation and flood resilience have become integral to urban planning at both city and metropolitan levels. Urban strategies increasingly reflect recommendations from climate mitigation and adaptation frameworks, integrating them into housing, land use, and public space development. Several ongoing initiatives embody this approach, including the “Manifesto for Marseillais Public Spaces”, the “Cool Noons” projects, the “Copr’eau de pluie” (Rainwater Co-management initiative), and the “Plus fraîche ma ville” (Cooler City) program.
These projects aim to tackle both extreme heat and flooding by focusing on urban greening, reducing surface impermeability, and enhancing climate resilience across neighbourhoods. In addition to the above initiatives, there are other ongoing urban projects to restore Marseille’s water courses, such as the project on the Parc du Ruisseau des Aygalades and the creation of the Voie verte de L’Huveaune, which bring together urban regeneration, greening and biodiversity, and reduction of flood risk.
Migration history
Large-scale migration to France began in the second half of the 19th century, primarily to address labour shortages driven by the country’s industrialization process. Initially, migrants came mostly from other European countries. However, after World War I, migrations from France’s colonies increased significantly. Following World War II, immigration rose sharply, with people arriving from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. In 2021, one in four children under the age of four in France had a at least one immigrant parent, with most of these tracing their origins to XXX
In 2021, the principal countries of origin for new arrivals to France included Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Guinea, Senegal and China . Family reunification – rather than employment – was the main reason for immigration that year. The number of asylum seekers in France has also grown significantly in recent years. In 2023, approximately 600,000 individuals held asylum rights in the country. In the first quarter of 2025, France received around 41,000 asylum applications, the highest in Europe. While only a minority of applications are approved, 96% of rejected asylum seekers reportedly remain in the country.
Current snapshot
Marseille, as a major port city, has long been a point of entry and settlement for migrants. Its historic role as a migration gateway remains relevant today, as it lies along key southern and Mediterranean EU migratory routes, close to the Spanish and Italian borders. Additionally, the city hosts the regional asylum office for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region, making it a central administrative hub for asylum processing
Despite its identity as a welcoming multicultural city, Marseille is also marked by the socio-economic marginalisation of its migrant populations. In 2025, only 48% of non-European migrants of working age in the PACA region were employed, compared to 64% in Île-de-France, highlighting significant regional disparities in migrant integration.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 15th arrondissements had the highest percentages of foreign residents and immigrants in 2021. The Noailles neighbourhood in the 1st arrondissement is historically associated with the Maghreb community, while Belsunce, also in the 1st, has long served as a key landing point for migrants from both the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. These central neighbourhoods are now major targets of regeneration and gentrification efforts.
In the 2nd arrondissement, La Joliette and Le Panier—both of which have already experienced significant gentrification—have also seen multiple waves of immigration, most recently from the Comorian community. These overlapping dynamics of migration, marginalisation, and urban transformation continue to shape the city’s complex socio-spatial landscape.