Roubaix

Roubaix Robaais
Commune
The city hall
Flag of Roubaix Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Probitas et Industria
250px
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardy
Department	Nord
Arrondissement	Lille
Canton	Roubaix-1 and Roubaix-2
Intercommunality	Métropole Européenne de Lille
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Guillaume Delbar
Area1	13.23 km2 (5.11 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2018)2
Demonym(s)	Roubaisian (en) Roubaisien(ne) (fr)
INSEE/Postal code	59512 / 59100
Elevation	17–52 m (56–171 ft) (avg. 35 m or 115 ft)
Website	www.ville-roubaix.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Roubaix (French: [ʁubɛ] or [ʁube]; Dutch: Robaais; West Flemish: Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century from its textile industries, with most of the same characteristic features as those of English and American boom towns. This former new town has faced many challenges linked to deindustrialisation such as urban decay, with their related economic and social implications, since its major industries fell into decline by the middle of the 1970s. Located to the northeast of Lille, adjacent to Tourcoing, Roubaix is the chef-lieu of two cantons and the third largest city in the French region of Hauts-de-France ranked by population with nearly 99,000 inhabitants.

Together with the nearby cities of Lille, Tourcoing, Villeneuve-d'Ascq and eighty-six other communes, Roubaix gives structure to a four-centred metropolitan area inhabited by more than 1.1 million people: the European Metropolis of Lille. To a greater extent, Roubaix is in the center of a vast conurbation formed with the Belgian cities of Mouscron, Kortrijk and Tournai, which gave birth to the first European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation in January 2008, Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai with an aggregate population of over 2 million inhabitants.

Geography

Location

Roubaix occupies a central position on the north-east slope of the Métropole Européenne de Lille: it is set on the eastern side of Lille and the southern side of Tourcoing, close to the Belgian border. As regards towns' boundaries, Roubaix is encompassed by seven cities which constitute its immediate neighbouring environment. These municipalities are namely: Tourcoing to the north and the northwest, Wattrelos to the northeast, Leers to the east, Lys-lez-Lannoy to the southeast, Hem to the south and Croix to the southwest and the west. Roubaix, alongside those municipalities and twenty-one other communes, belongs to the land of Ferrain, a little district of the former Castellany of Lille between the Lys and Scheldt rivers.

As the crow flies, the distance between Roubaix and the following cities is some odd: 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to Tournai, 18 kilometres (11 mi) to Kortrijk, 84 kilometres (52 mi) to Brussels and 213 kilometres (132 mi) to Paris.

Geology

The land upon which Roubaix stands belongs to the plain of Flanders. The Roubaisian area stretches on an east-west oriented shallow syncline axis which trends south-southeast to the Paleozoic limestone of the Mélantois-Tournaisis faulted anticline. It consists predominantly of Holocene alluvial sediment depositions. It is flat and low, with an elevation drop of only over its 13.23 square kilometres (5.11 sq mi). The lowest altitude of this area stands at , while its highest altitude is meters above the sea level.

Hydrology

The Trichon stream fed by waters of the Espierre stream used to flow through the rural landscape of Roubaix before the industrialisation process began to alter this area in the middle of the 19th century. From that century on, the ensuing industries, with their increasing needs for reliable supplies of goods and water, led to the building of an inland waterway connected upstream from the Deûle and downstream to the Marque and Espierre toward the Scheldt, which linked directly Roubaix to Lille.

Opened in 1877, the Canal de Roubaix crosses the town from its northern neighbourhoods to its eastern neighbourhoods and partially flows along the city's boundaries. The Canal de Roubaix closed in 1985, after more than a century in use. Thank to the European funded project Blue Links, the waterway has been reopened to boating traffic since 2011.

Climate

The area of the city is not known for undergoing unusual weather events. In regard to the town's geographical location and the results of the Météo-France's weather station of Lille-Lesquin, Roubaix is a temperate oceanic climate: while summer experiences mild temperatures, winter's temperatures may fall to below zero. Precipitation is infrequently intense.

Climate data for Roubaix (1981−2010 normals, extremes 1965−present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	15.5 (59.9)	19.2 (66.6)	25.5 (77.9)	28.5 (83.3)	33.0 (91.4)	35.0 (95)	42.1 (107.8)	37.5 (99.5)	35.5 (95.9)	28.0 (82.4)	20.1 (68.2)	15.5 (59.9)	42.1 (107.8)
Average high °C (°F)	6.7 (44.1)	7.5 (45.5)	11.1 (52)	14.7 (58.5)	18.7 (65.7)	21.3 (70.3)	23.8 (74.8)	23.9 (75)	20.2 (68.4)	15.6 (60.1)	10.5 (50.9)	7.2 (45)	15.1 (59.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	4.1 (39.4)	4.5 (40.1)	7.4 (45.3)	10.1 (50.2)	13.9 (57)	16.6 (61.9)	18.9 (66)	18.9 (66)	15.7 (60.3)	11.9 (53.4)	7.7 (45.9)	4.8 (40.6)	11.2 (52.2)
Average low °C (°F)	1.6 (34.9)	1.5 (34.7)	3.7 (38.7)	5.5 (41.9)	9.2 (48.6)	11.9 (53.4)	14.0 (57.2)	13.9 (57)	11.2 (52.2)	8.2 (46.8)	4.8 (40.6)	2.4 (36.3)	7.4 (45.3)
Record low °C (°F)	−14.5 (5.9)	−12.5 (9.5)	−7.5 (18.5)	−2.5 (27.5)	−1.0 (30.2)	3.0 (37.4)	5.0 (41)	5.0 (41)	3.0 (37.4)	−3.5 (25.7)	−7.0 (19.4)	−10.5 (13.1)	−14.5 (5.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	69.8 (2.748)	54.6 (2.15)	63.9 (2.516)	53.3 (2.098)	67.8 (2.669)	71.6 (2.819)	74.2 (2.921)	70.0 (2.756)	68.0 (2.677)	77.1 (3.035)	81.5 (3.209)	81.4 (3.205)	833.2 (32.803)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	13.0	10.8	12.3	10.6	11.3	9.8	10.3	8.9	10.8	12.0	13.3	13.1	136.2
Source: Météo-France

Toponymy

The current city's name is most likely derived from Frankish rausa "reed" and baki "brook". Therefore the meaning of Roubaix can, in all likelihood, find its origin on the banks of its three historical brooks: Espierre, Trichon and Favreuil. The place was mentioned for the first time in a Latinised form in the 9th century: Villa Rusbaci. Thereafter, the following names were in use: 1047 and 1106 Rubais, 1122 Rosbays, 1166 Rusbais, 1156 and 1202 Robais, 1223 Roubais. Over the span of centuries, the name evolved to Roubaix as shown on Mercator's map of Flanders published at Leuven in 1540.

Parallel to the official and usual name Roubaix, some translations are worth a mention. Firstly, though the city has never belonged to the Flemish-speaking area, the seldom-heard renderings Robeke and Roodebeeke are documented for Roubaix. Furthermore, the Dutch Language Union established Robaais as the city's proper Dutch name. Lastly, one can cite Rosbacum as the definite Latin transcription of Roubaix which has been in use since the 19th century, as recorded on dedication statements sealed in the first stones of the foundations of the City Hall laid in 1840 and the Church of Notre Dame laid in 1842.

History

See also: Timeline of Roubaix

View of the city, dated 1699. Landscape with the castle, surrounded by a moat, next to the Sainte-Elisabeth hospital at left, the mill at right and the Saint-Martin church, regarded as the city's centre point, at centre.

Heraldry

The arms of Roubaix are blazoned: Party per pale ermine a chief gules and azure, thereon between two bobbins argent a five-pointed star or in chief, a wool-cards at its centre and a shuttle fesswise in base or, all within a bordure indented of the same.

People

Inhabitants of Roubaix are known in English as "Roubaisians" and in French as Roubaisiens (pronounced: [ʁu.bɛ.zjɛ̃ ]) or in the feminine form Roubaisiennes (pronounced: [ʁu.bɛ.zjɛn]), also natively called Roubaignots (pronounced: [ʁu.bɛ.njo]) or in the feminine form Roubaignotes (pronounced: [ʁu.bɛ.njoz]).

Demographics

See also: Demographics of France

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1716 4,715 —     1764 7,363 +0.93% 1789 8,559 +0.60% 1793 9,120 +1.60% 1800 8,091 −1.70% 1801 8,151 +0.74% 1805 8,703 +1.65% 1806 8,724 +0.24% 1817 8,724 +0.00% 1821 12,170 +8.68% 1830 13,132 +0.85% 1831 18,187 +38.49% 1836 19,455 +1.36% 1841 24,802 +4.98% 1842 24,892 +0.36% 1846 31,039 +5.67% 1851 34,698 +2.25% 1856 39,445 +2.60% 1861 49,274 +4.55% 1866 65,091 +5.73% 1872 75,987 +2.61% 1876 83,661 +2.43%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1881 91,757 +1.86% 1886 100,299 +1.80% 1891 114,917 +2.76% 1896 124,661 +1.64% 1901 124,365 −0.05% 1906 121,017 −0.54% 1911 122,723 +0.28% 1921 113,265 −0.80% 1926 117,209 +0.69% 1931 117,190 −0.00% 1936 107,105 −1.78% 1946 100,978 −0.59% 1954 110,067 +1.08% 1962 112,856 +0.31% 1968 114,547 +0.25% 1975 109,553 −0.63% 1982 101,602 −1.07% 1990 97,746 −0.48% 1999 96,984 −0.09% 2007 97,423 +0.06% 2012 94,536 −0.60% 2017 96,990 +0.51%
From 1962 to 1999: population without double counting Source: L.E. Marissal for 1716, 1789, 1801, 1805, 1817, 1830 and 1842, Comte du Muy for 1764, Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 2006 and INSEE from 2007

The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses carried out in the town since 1793 and the research study of Louis-Edmond Marissal, Clerk of the Peace of the city, published in 1844. Roubaix evolved into a provincial market town until the end of the Early modern period with a census population of 4,715 inhabitants in 1716. By the late 18th century, the city began to emerge as regional textile manufacturing centre and its population increased, reaching a level of 8,091 in 1800. As a result of the industrialisation process of the 19th century, the need of workers was supplied by rural flight as well as immigration. Belgian settlement was a feature of the Roubaisian life at that time.

During the first-half period of the 19th century, Roubaix ranked the first French town in terms of population growth rate with a five times increase, whereas in the remaining period of this century its population doubled. Within this last time framework, Belgian immigration appeared to be one of the major factor to explain the significantly high population growth, with 30,465 Belgian inhabitants counted in 1866 and 42,103 in 1872. Nonetheless, the rate of natural increase shew to be a more important component of the population growth in that period.

At the 20th century threshold, the Roubaisian population reached a peak of 124,661, from which it progressively declined over the successive decades. Occupied by German troops from October 1914 to October 1918, Roubaix belonged to the combat zone of the Western Front during the First World War. Over this occupation period, Roubaisians suffered from dearth, deportation for compulsory labour and unusual casualties with a rather slight population drop from 122,723 to 113,265 between the 1911 and 1921 censuses.

The population of the city was 98,828 as of January 2019. This enables Roubaix to remain the third largest municipality in the region Hauts-de-France, after Lille and Amiens.

Languages

Although the region of Roubaix was subjected many times to the domination of Flanders' rulers throughout its history, Roubaisians have used a local Picard variant as the language of everyday life for centuries. This spoken vernacular is locally known as Roubaignot. Until the early 20th century this patois prevailed. Therefore, French language progressive penetration into local culture should not only be analysed as a result of the industrialisation and urbanisation of the area but should also be considered in terms of public education policies.

Religion

Christianity

The city of Roubaix is divided into six Catholic parishes and belongs to the deanery of the same name in the archdiocese of Lille.

Judaism

In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, many Jews left their homes and emigrated. Jewish arrival in Roubaix derives from that bitter period of history. At the time, the new immigrant community, even though its small size, dedicated a building to Jewish faith and liturgical practises. The newly opened synagogue, located in a house at number 51 on the narrow rue des Champs, operated more than 60 years, until 1939, when it was closed under imprecise local circumstances as the Nazi regime took over in Europe. Despite the closure of the synagogue, the occupation and police raids, the local practise of Judaism saw a humble revival after the war which lasted until the start of the 1990s when the modest Jewry of Roubaix handed over its Sefer Torah to the care of the Jewish community of Lille. Roubaix has no longer been home to a Jewish place of worship since that event. The house inside which the first one was created 123 years ago, has been demolished since an urban renewal project occurred in 2000. On September 10, 2015, the mayor unveiled a commemorative plaque on the rue des Champs, as a tribute to the Roubaisian Jewry, in memory of the religious purpose of this previous building.

Islam

As of August 2013 there were six mosques in the town, including one under construction. According to estimates by the mayor's office, around 20,000 people, or about 20 percent of the population were Muslims. Four areas of the cemetery were designated for Muslims.

Buddhism

During the second half of the 20th century, the city took in Buddhist communities from originally Buddhist countries in the Southeast Asian peninsula including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Within this background Roubaix has brought together two Buddhist traditions on its territory, hence cultural variations across communities: Mahāyāna and Theravāda with, respectively, one and four places of worship.

Urbanism

Urban geography

During the Middle Age, the city grew in a northward-facing semicircle around its primitive core, beyond the area spread out between the church Saint Martin and the former fortified castle. The existence of this south boundary remained until the 18th century and marked an urban expansion which mainly occurred on the western and northern sides of the town. Increasing industrialisation, land transport improvement, continued population growth and the resulting need for suitable low cost lands for housing and manufacturing plants, all of which finally led to expand the city southward from the centre, in the 19th century.

Administrative and political affairs

Constituencies and cantons

Roubaix grouped four cantons from 1988 to 2012. Since then, this number has fallen to two with Roubaix 1 and Roubaix 2. After the last redistricting of French legislative constituencies in 2010, the city is now divided into two constituencies: Nord's 7th constituency which include the former canton of Roubaix-Ouest and Nord's 8th constituency formed by the following former cantons: Roubaix-Centre, Roubaix-Nord and Roubaix-Est.

Administrative zoning

Eastern district neighbourhoods

• Fraternité
• Pile
• Sainte-Elisabeth
• Sartel-Carihem
• Trois Ponts

Western district neighbourhoods

• Epeule
• Fresnoy-Mackellerie
• Trichon

Central district neighbourhoods

• Anseelme Motte-Bossut
• Barbieux
• Centre-ville
• Crouy
• Espérance
• Nations-Unies
• Vauban

Northern district neighbourhoods

• Alma-Gare
• Armentières
• Cul de Four
• Entrepont
• Fosses aux Chênes
• Hommelet
• Hutin-Oran-Cartigny

Southern district neighbourhoods

• Chemin Neuf
• Edouard Vaillant
• Hauts-Champs
• Justice
• Linné-Boulevards
• Moulin
• Nouveau Roubaix
• Petites-Haies
• Potennerie

Mayors of the city

Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party
Henri Carette	May 1892	December 1901	POF
Edouard Roussel	December 1901	January 1902	UDR
Eugène Motte	January 1902	May 1912	FR
Jean-Baptiste Lebas	May 1912	March 1915	SFIO
Henri Thérin	March 1915	October 1918	SFIO
Jean-Baptiste Lebas	October 1918	June 1940	SFIO
Fleuris Vanherpe	June 1940	August 1941
Marcel Guislain	August 1941	December 1941
Alphonse Verbeurgt	January 1942	May 1942
Charles Bauduin	May 1942	July 1942
Victor Provo	July 1942	March 1977	SFIO then PS
Pierre Prouvost	March 1977	March 1983	PS
André Diligent	March 1983	May 1994	UDF-CDS
René Vandierendonck	May 1994	March 2012	UDF-CDS then DVG and finally PS
Pierre Dubois	March 2012	March 2014	PS
Guillaume Delbar	April 2014	–	UMP then LR and finally DVD

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Roubaix is twinned with:

• Bradford, United Kingdom, since 1969
• Mönchengladbach, Germany, since 1969
• Verviers, Belgium, since 1969
• Skopje, North Macedonia, since 1973
• Prato, Italy, since 1981
• Sosnowiec, Poland, since 1993
• Covilhã, Portugal, since 2000
• Bouïra, Algeria, since 2003

Landmarks

Remarkable buildings, old brick factories and warehouses abound in this once renowned city which was esteemed to be a worldwide textile capital in the early years of the 20th century. Thus, the city inherited one of the most architectural works in the French history and culture of the 19th century Industrial Revolution and was designated Town of Art and History on December 13, 2000. Ever since the Ministry of Culture endowed Roubaix with this label, the city has entered the 21st century by promoting its cultural standing as the inheritance of its industrial and social history.

Several profane or sacral buildings of Roubaix are registered as historic monuments.

Secular buildings

• ''Monument historique'' registered secular buildings
• 

  Barbieux health centre

• 

  ENSAIT

• 

  Prouvost private mansion

• 

  Art nouveau house

• 

  Three-storey stately house

• 

  Rémy Cogghe's house

• 

  Law court

• 

  Huchon water tower

• 

  National Archives of the Working World\

• Tourcoing.-Palais Vaissier rue de Mouvaux MH PA00107841 (4).jpg

  Concierge of the demolished Palais Vaissier

Sacral buildings

• Monument historique registered sacral buildings
• 

  Convent of Clarisses

• 

  Deconsecrated Church Notre-Dame

• 

  Church Saint-Martin

Sculptures and memorials

The city has been the place where illustrious names of French sculptors put their skills to create memorial monuments since the end of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century. After a long slack period 2010 introduced a shift in the genre with the unveiling of Wim Delvoye's Discobolos, a statue of modern art conceived as a welcoming sign to a neighbourhood of the city. The sculptures and memorial monuments in Roubaix which deserve notice for their historical or artistical interest are mentioned below.

• Discobolos: Wim Delvoye (sculptor), Bruno Dupont (mediator), Fondation de France and city of Roubaix (supporters), ordered by the neighbourhood residents with the members of the Hommelet neighbourhood committee and inaugurated on June 5, 2010
• Joan of Arc statue: Maxime Real del Sarte (sculptor), inaugurated on May 27, 1952
• Memorial to Jean-Baptiste Lebas: Albert de Jaeger (sculptor), funded through public subscription and inaugurated on October 23, 1949
• Memorial to Resistance Martyrs of Roubaix: Albert de Jaeger (sculptor), engraved "Roubaix a ses martyrs de la Résistance" and "Ils ont brisé les chaînes de l'oppression", ordered by the City council and inaugurated on November 11, 1948
• Memorial to Eugène Motte: Raoul Bénard (sculptor), Gustave Poubel (architect), funded through public subscription and inaugurated on September 22, 1935
• Memorial to Jean-Joseph Weerts: Alexandre Descatoire (sculptor), ordered by the City council and inaugurated on October 29, 1931
• Memorial to Louis Bossut: Maxime Real del Sarte (sculptor), ordered by the City council and inaugurated on October 4, 1925
• Monuments aux Morts or World War I Memorial of Roubaix: Alexandre Descatoire (sculptor), Jean-Frédéric Wielhorski (architect), engraved "Roubaix à ses enfants morts pour la défense du pays et pour la paix", ordered by the City council and inaugurated on October 18, 1925
• Memorial to Jules Guesde: Georgette Agutte-Sembat (sculptor), Albert Bührer (architect), funded through public subscription and inaugurated on April 12, 1925
• Memorial to Amédée Prouvost: Hippolyte Lefèbvre (sculptor), ordered by the City council and inaugurated on October 29, 1922
• Memorial to Pierre Destombes: Corneille Theunissen (sculptor), engraved "Hortorum, Musicae, Librorumque, Studiosus", ordered by the City council and inaugurated on October 29, 1922
• Memorial to Gustave Nadaud: Alphonse-Amédée Cordonnier (sculptor), Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne (art founder), inaugurated on October 11, 1896

Culture

Museums

Roubaix has been home to two major museums of the region Hauts-de-France since the beginning of the 21st century: La Piscine and La Manufacture; inheriting both of the local socioeconomic history. La Piscine, also known as the Musée d'Art & d'Industrie André Diligent, is one of the most lauded cultural attractions in northern France. This museum is housed in the Art Deco-style former swimming pool of Roubaix, a building remodelled in 2000 to accommodate and exhibit 19th and 20th century collections of the city. After being closed for two years of renovation works and extension, it was reopened to the public in October 2018, becoming more successful than ever before. La Manufacture is the reference textile museum in northern France. It is hosted in an old weaving factory.

Painting

The most prestigious names of painters, who made their reputation in Roubaix from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century are Jean-Joseph Weerts and Rémy Cogghe.

From the end of the Second World War to the beginning of the 1970s, a casual group of young artists from Roubaix and the surrounding region was formed and given the name Groupe de Roubaix. Two painters commonly associated with the group are Arthur Van Hecke and Eugène Leroy.

Fashion

Anxious to restore the prestige of northern France's textile industry and operating under the label of Maisons de Mode, the cities of Lille and Roubaix have created spaces for new fashion designers to thrive since 2007. The Roubaisian location, next to La Piscine museum, is known as Le Vestiaire. There are fifteen boutiques and fashion studios housed in an old industrial building.

Theatre and performing arts centres

• Centre chorégraphique national Roubaix - Hauts-de-France
• Colisée
• Condition publique
• Théâtre de l'Oiseau-Mouche "Le Garage"
• Théâtre Louis Richard
• Théâtre Pierre de Roubaix

Cinema

The city of Roubaix was the filming location (mostly or partly) of the following films:

• I Am a Soldier (French: Je suis un soldat), directed by Laurent Larivière in 2015
• My Golden Days (French: Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse), directed by Arnaud Desplechin in 2015
• Discount, directed by Louis-Julien Petit in 2014
• Queens of the Ring (French: Les Reines du ring), directed by Jean-Marc Rudnicki in 2013
• Blue Is the Warmest Colour (French: La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche in 2013
• A Christmas Tale (French: Un conte de Noël), directed by Arnaud Desplechin in 2008
• The Banishment (Russian: Изгнание, Izgnanie), directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev in 2007
• In His Hands (French: Entre ses mains), directed by Anne Fontaine in 2005
• The Axe (French: Le couperet), directed by Costa-Gavras in 2005
• Save Me (French: Sauve-Moi), directed by Christian Vincent in 2000
• Flat Land Cities (French: Les Cités de la plaine), directed by Robert Kramer in 1999
• The Dreamlife of Angels (French: La Vie rêvée des anges), directed by Erick Zonca in 1998
• Enigma, directed by Jeannot Szwarc in 1982
• Life Is a Long Quiet River (French: La vie est un long fleuve tranquille), directed by Étienne Chatiliez in 1988
• Hurricane Rosy (Italian: Temporale Rosy, French: Rosy la bourrasque), directed by Mario Monicelli in 1979
• Swimming Instructor (French: Le Maître-nageur), directed by Jean-Louis Trintignant in 1979
• Body of My Enemy (French: Le Corps de mon ennemi), directed by Henri Verneuil in 1976
• A Sunday in Hell (Danish: En Forårsdag i Helvede), Danish documentary directed by Jørgen Leth in 1976
• The Confession (French: L'Aveu), directed by Costa Gavras in 1970
• Struggle in Italy (Italian: Lotte in Italia), directed by the Dziga Vertov Group in 1970

Higher education

• The EDHEC Business School is one of the few Grandes École located outside the Paris Metropolitan Area. It is one of Europe's fastest rising business schools.
• ENSAIT is a higher education and research institute, gathering all the disciplines related to textiles.
• ESAAT is a design education institute.
• Decentralisation of the Universities of Lille II and Lille III

Libraries

• Médiathèque "La Grand'Plage"
• National Archives of the World of Work

Sport

Roubaix has an old sporting heritage and is home to the finishing of one of the world's oldest races of professional road cycling at its velodrome: Paris–Roubaix, known as the Hell of the North. While Roubaix is famous for its velodrome, there is more to this city than the cycling sports facilities.

The building of indoor and outdoor sports amenities in the city should be associated with its era of economic rise during the industrial revolution, in addition to the development of local sporting clubs and associations.

In October 2021 Roubaix hosted the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

Economy

During the 19th century, Roubaix acquired an international reputation for textile industry and wool production. In the 1970s and 1980s, international competition and automation caused an industrial decline and resulted in the closure of many factories. From that moment on and since the implementation of the French urban policy in the early 1980s, around three-fourths of the town's territory has been regularly assigned specific zoning designations as well as health and welfare plans.

Roubaix's high level of unemployment is a consequence of the desindustrialisation. The town is listed among France's poorest cities. Successive local governments have tried to address difficulties associated with deindustrialisation by attracting new industries, making the most of the town's cultural credentials and organising a strong student presence on different campuses. While undergoing conversion efforts, the city is experimenting with new models and able to take advantage of successful economic stories, with online retail and information technology, and seems to be on the way to reverse the decades of decline.

Textile industry

Nowadays, local textile companies are focussing on developing high-tech textile products.

Commerce and services

Mail order companies of international renown such as La Redoute, Damart and 3 Suisses, stemmed from textile industries which were founded in Roubaix. Showroomprive.com has been locally established since 2016 as an e-commerce company that specialises in online flash sales.

Information technology and e-business

• OVH was created in Roubaix in 1999 and became a global IT infrastructure company, creating more than thousand jobs in the city and surroundings. Its head office is still in Roubaix.
• Ankama Games has established its head office in Roubaix since 2007.
• Blanchemaille, an e-commerce cluster helped by the incubator EuraTechnologies, has been established in the former building of La Redoute in Roubaix since 2014.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roubaix's position in the motorway roads network

A22 autoroute, a French part of the European route E17 from Burgundy to Antwerp, is the only motorway, within a motorway roads network of the highest density in France after Paris, which passes by Roubaix.

The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Antwerp, Lille, Ostend, Paris and Tourcoing.

The city is also served by the Lille Metro.

Environmental perspectives

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s desindustrialisation dramatically influenced major urban landscapes across the arrondissement of Lille. Large areas of brownfield land came to mark the city of Roubaix. With the support of the local and national government programs, these areas are acquired and gradually restored or rebuilt.

Roubaix has one of the most efficient biomass district heating plant in France and is therefore among the most advanced cities for sustainability in Hauts-de-France. Since 2014, the city has been engaged in several related initiatives aimed at moving to a circular economy and a zero waste future.

Notable people

Artists

• Wanani Gradi Mariadi (1990–): rapper known as Gradur
• Kaddour Hadadi (1976–): singer and author known as HK
• Philippe Dhondt (1965–): singer, songwriter and composer known as Boris
• Arnaud Desplechin (1960–): film director
• Édouard Devernay (1889–1952): Organist, composer
• Wladyslaw Znorko (1958–2013): theatre author and director
• Philippe Barraqué (1954–): musicologist, music therapist, composer and singer
• Étienne Chatiliez (1952–): film director
• Roger Delmotte (1925–): classical trumpeter
• Philippe Lefebvre (1949–): musician, principal organist of Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris
• Chantal Ladesou (1948–): actress and comedian
• Agnès Guillemot (1931–2005): film editor
• Pierre Jansen (1930–2015): film music composer
• Jenny Clève (1930–): actress
• Elisabeth Yvonne Scatcherd (1928–): film actress known as Yvonne Furneaux
• Charles Gadenne (1925–2012): sculptor
• Georges Delerue (1925–1992): composer who worked on over 350 scores for cinema and television
• Arthur Van Hecke (1924–2003): painter
• Gabrielle Vervaecke (1921–2005): composer and singer known as Gaby Verlor
• Viviane Romance (1912–1991): actress
• Albert de Jaeger (1908–1992): sculptor, printmaker, medallist and smelter
• Charles Bodart-Timal (1897–1971): songwriter and chansonnier
• Jules Gressier (1897–1960): conductor
• Francis Bousquet (1890–1942): Marseille-born composer
• Léon Mathot (1886–1968): film actor and director
• Silas Broux (1867–1957): painter
• Jean-Joseph Weerts (1846–1927): painter
• Rémy Cogghe (1846–1927): Belgian-born painter who resided in Roubaix
• Gustave Nadaud (1820–1893): songwriter and chansonnier

Athletes

• Wassim Aouachria (2000–): football player
• Ahmed Touba (1998–): football player
• Moussa Niakhate (1996–): football player
• Christoffer Mafoumbi (1994–): goalkeeper
• Saoussen Boudiaf (1993–): sabre fencer
• Anthony Knockaert (1991–): football player
• Aliou Dia (1990–): football player
• Antoine Roussel (1989–): ice hockey player
• Pierrick Gunther (1989–): rugby union player
• Idir Ouali (1988–): football player
• Martial Mbandjock (1985–): sprinter
• Seïd Khiter (1985–): football player
• Daouda Sow (1983–): boxer
• Yero Dia (1982–): football player
• Icham Mouissi (1982–): Algerian football player
• David Coulibaly (1978–): football player
• Arnaud Tournant (1978–): track cyclist
• Christophe Landrin (1977–): football midfielder
• Jacques-Olivier Paviot (1976–): football player
• Fatiha Ouali (1974–): race walker
• Michel Breistroff (1971–1996): ice hockey player
• Pierre Dréossi (1959–): former football player, coach and football manager
• Alain Bondue (1959–): racing cyclist
• Jean-Christian Lang (1950–): football manager and former player
• Jacques Carette (1947–): athlete
• René Libeer (1934–2006): boxer
• Jacques Pollet (1922–1997): racing driver
• Jacques Leenaert (1921–2004): football player
• Prudent Joye (1913–1980): track and field athlete
• Georges Beaucourt (1912–2002): football player
• Raymond Dubly (1893–1988): football player
• Jean Alavoine (1888–1943): cyclist
• Charles Crupelandt (1886–1955): Wattrelos-born professional road bicycle racer
• Arthur Balbaert (1879–1938): Belgian sports shooter

Politicians and professionals

• Karima Delli (1979–): politician, Member of the European Parliament
• Florence Morlighem (1970–): politician, Member of Parliament
• Olivier Henno (1962–): politician, mayor of Saint-André-lez-Lille and general councillor
• Benoît Duquesne (1957–2014): journalist, television reporter and newscaster
• Pierre Pribetich (1956–): politician, former Member of the European Parliament
• Marie-Christine Blandin (1952–): politician, member of the Senate of France, representing the Nord department
• Jean-Luc Brunin (1951–): clergyman, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Havre
• Alex Türk (1950–): politician, member of the Senate of France, representing the Nord department
• Bernard Arnault (1949–): business magnate, investor and art collector
• Bruno Masure (1947–): journalist, news anchor and television presenter
• Auguste Mimerel (1786–1871), industrialist and politician
• Gérard Mulliez (1931–): businessman, founder of the Auchan chain of department stores
• Robert Diligent (1924–2014): journalist, founding members of Télé Luxembourg
• Francis Pollet (1964-): general officer
• André Diligent (1919–2002): lawyer and politician, World War II resistance activist, deputy to the National Assembly, senator-mayor of Roubaix
• Marcel Verfaillie (1911–1945): communist militant, World War II resistance activist against Nazism, died in concentration camp
• Pierre Herman (1910–1990): politician, deputy to the National Assembly
• Pierre Pflimlin (1907–2000): lawyer and politician, last Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic
• Raymond Schmittlein (1904–1974): toponymist and politician, deputy to the National Assembly
• Jean-Baptiste Lebas (1898–1944): politician, mayor of Roubaix, deputy to the National Assembly, World War I and II resistance activist, died in deportation custody
• Antoine Cordonnier (1892–1918): military aviator, flying ace during World War I
• Jules Dumont (1888–1943): communist militant, commanded the Commune de Paris Battalion, a unit part of the XI International Brigade
• Jean Prouvost (1885–1978): businessman, media owner and politician
• Agnello van den Bosch (1883–1945): Belgian Catholic Franciscan priest (OFM), founder and president of the Belgian National Work for the Blind, died in concentration camp
• Louis Loucheur (1872–1931): writer and politician, deputy to the National Assembly
• Ferdinand Bonnel (1865–1945): Jesuit priest and missionary in Sri Lanka
• Théodore Vienne (1864–1921): textile manufacturer and co-founder of Paris–Roubaix cycle race
• Eugène Motte (1860–1932): politician and businessman, mayor of Roubaix, deputy to the National Assembly
• Pierre Wibaux (1858–1913): cattle-rancher, banker and gold-mine owner, emigrated from France to the United States
• Jules Guesde (1845–1922): Paris-born socialist journalist and politician, deputy of the constituency of Roubaix to the National Assembly
• Jean Desbouvrie (c. 1840–1847-?): inventor and bird tamer
• Gérard Vachonfrance (1933–2008): physician and society co-founder
• Marie Léonie Vanhoutte (1888–1967): French resistance fighter and secret-agent during World War I.

Scientists

• Stanislas Dehaene (1965–): cognitive psychologist, professor at the Collège de France and author
• Bernard Amadei (1954–): professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado, founder of Engineers Without Borders (USA)
• Dominique Mulliez (1952–): epigrapher, archaeologist and Hellenist
• Marguerite Dupire (1920–2015): ethnologist
• Robert Jonckhèere (1888–1974): astronomer
• Joseph Willot (1875–1919): pharmacist and World War I resistance activist

Writers

• Marie Desplechin (1959–): writer and journalist
• Pierre Pierrard (1920–2005): historian
• Michel Décaudin (1919–2004): Romance linguist, literature professor and author
• Richard Cobb (1917–1996): British social historian. Lived in Roubaix in the 1940s.
• Octave Vandekerkhove (1911–1987): writer
• Maxence Van Der Meersch (1907–1951): writer
• Maurice Nédoncelle (1905–1976): personalist philosopher
• Yanette Delétang-Tardif (1902–1976): poet
• Amédée Prouvost (1877–1909): poet
• Jules Feller (1859–1940): Romance linguist and philologist, Belgian academician and Walloon militant

See also

• Paris–Roubaix
• André Diligent Museum of Art and Industry
• Canal of Roubaix
• Roubaix, South Dakota
• André Bizette-Lindet

Bibliography

See also: Bibliography of the history of Roubaix

External links

• Tourist office website
• Website of the museum of art and industry
• LeBlog2Roubaix.Com (videoblog and WebTv about Roubaix)
• Roubaix at Curlie