Environmental discrimination through urban planning: the case of French Traveler site

Environmental discrimination through urban planning: the case of French Traveler site | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Environmental discrimination through urban planning: the case of French Traveler site Léa Tardieu, Nicolas Mondolfo, Antoine Leblois, Philippe Delacote This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5078577/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Cities → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Ethnic minorities often face environmental inequalities, as they are generally more likely to be exposed to hazardous and polluting facilities. Despite this, the role of urban planning decisions in shaping these inequalities has been insufficiently explored. The siting of Traveler sites provides a clear example of how political decisions in urban contexts can exacerbate environmental disparities. To address this issue, we constructed an original database that links the siting of French Traveler sites with socio-economic and environmental data. Then, we conducted a statistical analysis to identify the factors that determine the placement of sites, both across and within municipalities. Our study demonstrates that Traveler sites are more likely to be implemented in municipalities with greater disamenities and that, within these municipalities, sites are located closer to these disamenities than other residential areas. Based on our findings, we discuss two potential mechanisms underlying the planning decisions regarding sites: the opportunity cost and discriminatory preferences. Social science/Economics Social science/Geography Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Cities → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5078577","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":379629610,"identity":"8972825f-5b0d-409a-ad4b-7456df77dccf","order_by":0,"name":"Léa Tardieu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPijN2AbEDxIg7Ad4tbCBiAMQLcwGEC3MBsRpaQCyJRiI0sLe/ID5Q8092T72HrOKhzvuyfMzMLN9wKuF55gBw4FjxcZtPGfMbiSeKTac2cDMPAOvFokEoBa2hMQ2iRyglrYExg0H+A/jd5j88w8MB/4Btci/MSsAarHff4CZGb8WCR4DhoNtIFt4zBiAWhI3MBDSwpNTcOBsXwLQL2nFEkAtyTMOE9DCz35844OKbwmy89sPb/z4sy3Btr+9Gb8WEDiAyiWsYRSMglEwCkYBIQAAgQpEj5WDJLAAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9157-5314","institution":"INRAE","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Léa","middleName":"","lastName":"Tardieu","suffix":""},{"id":379629611,"identity":"478a23d3-bfcd-48cf-a48c-0550970c8812","order_by":1,"name":"Nicolas Mondolfo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ENS","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicolas","middleName":"","lastName":"Mondolfo","suffix":""},{"id":379629612,"identity":"f23a5ad0-25b7-43fe-b7c1-dbc535bec05b","order_by":2,"name":"Antoine Leblois","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"INRAE","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Antoine","middleName":"","lastName":"Leblois","suffix":""},{"id":379629613,"identity":"6d3852b7-4e5c-403d-8af8-88fee0bcc8dc","order_by":3,"name":"Philippe Delacote","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9888-7193","institution":"INRAE","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Philippe","middleName":"","lastName":"Delacote","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-09-12 14:56:46","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5078577/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5078577/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00307-w","type":"published","date":"2025-08-26T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89988890,"identity":"1f49e093-6bde-4617-8f5f-790b3e4d2cc2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-27 07:07:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1885799,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"EnvironmentaldiscriminationTravelersitesVersionSubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5078577/v1_covered_b264dafe-9c5f-4121-89a6-87ff671918d3.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Environmental discrimination through urban planning: the case of French Traveler site","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5078577/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5078577/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Ethnic minorities often face environmental inequalities, as they are generally more likely to be exposed to hazardous and polluting facilities. Despite this, the role of urban planning decisions in shaping these inequalities has been insufficiently explored. The siting of Traveler sites provides a clear example of how political decisions in urban contexts can exacerbate environmental disparities. To address this issue, we constructed an original database that links the siting of French Traveler sites with socio-economic and environmental data. Then, we conducted a statistical analysis to identify the factors that determine the placement of sites, both across and within municipalities. Our study demonstrates that Traveler sites are more likely to be implemented in municipalities with greater disamenities and that, within these municipalities, sites are located closer to these disamenities than other residential areas. Based on our findings, we discuss two potential mechanisms underlying the planning decisions regarding sites: the opportunity cost and discriminatory preferences.","manuscriptTitle":"Environmental discrimination through urban planning: the case of French Traveler site","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-19 02:10:07","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5078577/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-cities","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"natcities","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Cities](https://www.springer.com/journal/44284)","snPcode":"44284","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Cities","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f7884b25-664f-4645-87d6-6a88084be496","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 19th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":40426761,"name":"Social science/Economics"},{"id":40426762,"name":"Social science/Geography"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-27T07:07:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5078577","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00307-w","journal":{"identity":"nature-cities","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Cities"},"publishedOn":"2025-08-26 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"August 26th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-19 02:10:07","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s44284-025-00307-w","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00307-w","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5078577","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5078577","identity":"rs-5078577","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}