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Urban planning decisions expose Traveller sites to disproportionate environmental burdens

Nature Cities volume 2, pages 865–874 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ethnic minorities often face environmental inequalities, as they are more likely to be exposed to hazardous and polluting facilities. Yet the role of urban planning on shaping these inequalities, particularly in Europe, remains understudied. The siting of Traveller sites offers a clear example of how repeated urban planning decisions can produce systemic discrimination, as local representatives determine where Travellers are allowed to stay, thereby directly influencing their exposure to environmental disamenities. Here by linking Traveller sites in France with socioeconomic and environmental data, we provide statistical evidence that Traveller sites are more likely to be implemented in cities with more disamenities and that sites are more exposed than any other residential areas within these cities (even other disadvantaged households). On the basis of our findings, we discuss two potential mechanisms that may underpin this discrimination: cost minimization and discriminatory preferences of local representatives and residents. The Travellers case illustrates the need for more thorough examinations of how urban planning decisions contribute to socio-spatial inequalities, particularly in the European context.

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Fig. 1: Location of Traveller sites and urban areas in France.
Fig. 2: Influence of socio-demographic and urban factors on Traveller site locations, n = 34,820.
Fig. 3: Comparison of exposure to disamenities between cities with and without a Traveller site.
Fig. 4: Percentage of Traveller sites located near disamenities and a municipality border, by distance category.
Fig. 5: Influence of socio-demographic and urban factors on the likelihood that a cell is located near a Traveller site, n = 356,764.

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Data availability

The initial dataset on Traveller sites, exposure to environmental amenities and disamenities and accessibility to public services is available at https://doi.org/10.57745/G1LWND, Recherche Data Gouv, V1. Additional data are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15518253 (ref. 39).

Code availability

Additional code are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15518253 (ref. 39).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to A. Sensier for his work on the geodata collection. We are also grateful to many academic and non-academic colleagues, in particular W. Acker and the members of the Paris-Saclay Applied Economics laboratory, who provided fruitful feedback on early versions of this work. The Bureau d’Economie Théorique et Appliquée contributes to the Labex ARBRE ANR-11- LABX-0002-01. This research is part of the Agriculture and Forestry research program by the Climate Economics Chair.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TETIS, INRAE, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Nicolas Mondolfo & Léa Tardieu

  2. CEE-M, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France

    Antoine Leblois

  3. Climate Economics Chair, Paris, France

    Antoine Leblois & Philippe Delacote

  4. Université de Lorraine, AgroParisTech-INRAE, BETA, Montpellier, France

    Philippe Delacote

  5. CIRED, École des Ponts ParisTech, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Cirad, CNRS, EHESS, Nogent-sur-Marne, France

    Léa Tardieu

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  1. Nicolas Mondolfo
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  2. Antoine Leblois
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  4. Léa Tardieu
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Contributions

N.M. drafted most of the initial outline and core initial content of the paper, with A.L., P.D. and L.T. enriching the outline and text with further illustrations, references and precisions. They also thoroughly edited the text. L.T. developed the initial spatial dataset with input from A.L. and P.D. N.M. carried out the statistical analysis with input and advice from the other authors. All authors have revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Léa Tardieu.

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Nature Cities thanks Giovanni Picker and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Additional definitions, Summary statistics, Regression results, Sensitivity checks and References.

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Mondolfo, N., Leblois, A., Delacote, P. et al. Urban planning decisions expose Traveller sites to disproportionate environmental burdens. Nat Cities 2, 865–874 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00307-w

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