2025, the year of renewal, the year of geographical upheavals in the Île-de-France region. Since Wednesday, January 1st, a new name has been added to the list of communes in Île-de-France. What's the name? Saint-Denis. So yes, you might say, "but Saint-Denis already exists". Indeed, but the city has officially merged with its neighbor Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, becoming one. This decision was announced by the two mayors in April 2023, making Saint-Denis the second most populated city in Île-de-France!
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Nearly 150,000 residents in Saint-Denis
Thanks to this merger, Saint-Denis now has no less than 149,781 residents, which is about thirty thousand more people! This total allows the city to qualify for funding reserved for municipalities with less than 150,000 residents. For the next three years, this funding will amount to €15 per resident, totaling approximately 6.74 million euros. On Wednesday, January 1, 2025, a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at an intersection where the names of the two former municipalities were still visible.
A new arrangement for the city council
Two merged municipalities into one… Who will now be the mayor? On one side…
Mathieu Hanotin, mayor of Saint-Denis, and on the other side, Michel Fourcade, mayor of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine. So, it's Mathieu Hanotin who will remain at the helm of this new configuration of Saint-Denis, while Michel Fourcade will be his first deputy. The "new" municipal council will bring together a total of 94 municipal councilors, with the first installation meeting taking place on January 4 at the Saint-Denis town hall.According to the majority, this merger would allow Saint-Denis to have a more significant impact at the national level, especially in financial aspects, by becoming the second most populated city in Île-de-France, just behind Paris (2,133,111 inhabitants) and ahead of Boulogne-Billancourt (119,808 inhabitants). It would also lead to a decrease in taxes for the residents of Pierrefitte, who will now be able to benefit from school canteens and a housing policy.ndigne de Saint-Denis.
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This wonderful initiative was made possible by the territorial reform law of December 16, 2010, which allowed for easier merging of municipalities to combat the fragmentation of local governance. However, it didn't make everyone happy among the residents, as some of them had formed the association “. Stop Fusion Pierrefitte-Saint-Denis ! » early March 2024. The organization had submitted a request to cancel the merger between Pierrefitte and Saint-Denis to the administrative court of Montreuil, which ultimately rejected their request in October.
