Roubaix

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.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/manualofbelgiuma00grearich/page/n3/mode/2up |title=A Manual of Belgium and the Adjoining Territories |date=February 1918 |page=37 |location=London |publisher=HM Stationery Office |editor-last=Hall |editor-first=Frederick |oclc=10569037 |access-date=2015-07-08}}

As the crow flies, the distance between Roubaix and the following cities is some odd: {{convert|16|km|mi}} to Tournai, {{convert|18|km|mi}} to Kortrijk, {{convert|84|km|mi}} to Brussels and {{convert|213|km|mi}} to Paris.{{cite web |url=http://www.entfernungsrechner.net/ |title=Entfernungen (Luftlinie & Strecke) einfach online berechnen, weltweit |last=Jäger |first=Martin |date=12 January 2011 |publisher=Ascio Technologies, Inc. Danmark – Filial af Ascio technologies, Inc. USA |trans-title=Calculate distance between two cities in the world (free, with map) |language=de |access-date=2015-07-07}}

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{{cite book |last1=Dercourt |first1=Jean |last2=Paquet |first2=Jacques |title=Geology: Principles and Methods |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWDuCAAAQBAJ |date=6 December 2012 |page=328 |orig-date=First published 1985 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-9-400-94956-0 |access-date=2015-07-24}} of the Mélantois-Tournaisis faulted anticline.{{cite book |last1=Hack |first1=Robert |last2=Azzam |first2=Rafig |last3=Charlier |first3=Robert |title=Engineering Geology for Infrastructure Planning in Europe: A European Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WiyX-d9PVt4C |date=14 June 2004 |pages=605–606 |doi=10.1007/b93922 |series=Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences |volume=104 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |location=Berlin, D |isbn=978-3-540-21075-7 |access-date=2015-07-03}} It consists predominantly of Holocene alluvial sediment depositions. It is flat and low, with an elevation drop of only {{height|m=35}} over its {{convert|13.23|km2|sqmi}}. The lowest altitude of this area stands at {{height|m=17}}, while its highest altitude is {{height|m=52}} meters above the sea level.

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.{{cite book |title=The Sanitary Record and Journal of Sanitary and Municipal Engineering |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBxHAQAAMAAJ |date=1911 |page=3 |volume=47 |publisher=Sanitary Publishing Company |location=London, UK |access-date=2015-07-08}} 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.{{cite book |title=Commercial relations of the United States with foreign countries |date=1898 |page=63 |url=https://archive.org/details/commercialrelat21unkngoog/page/n6/mode/2up |publisher=Govt. Printing Office |location=Washington DC |quote=…and with the Deule by the Canal d'Espierre and that of Roubaix |volume=3695 |access-date=2015-07-09}}{{cite book |last=Nothomb |first=M. |year=1838 |title=Canal de Bossuyt à Courtray & projets, annexes, enquêtes, etc … |trans-title=Bossuit-Kortrijk Canal & projects, appendix, surveys, etc… |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xQOAAAAQAAJ |language=fr |location=Brussels, B |publisher=H. Rémy, imprimeur du roi |page=17 |quote=Le but primitif du canal était de fournir à la ville de Roubaix les eaux dont elle manquait, et de la mettre en communication avec le système de canaux du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais. |access-date=2015-09-21}}

Opened in 1877,{{cite web |url=http://www.bluelinks2008.org/gb/Heritage/heritage.html |title=A strategic route, an economic necessity |website=EU programme Blue Links: restoration and reopening of the Deûle-Escaut canal between France and Belgium: Roubaix Canal, Espierre Canal and Marque canalised river |editor-last1=Ruant |editor-first1=Olivia |editor-last2=Edwards-May |editor-first2=David |author=Lille Metropolitan Council |year=2008 |publisher=Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine |access-date=2015-07-13}} 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.{{cite book |title=Cruising French Waterways |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWYTAAAAQBAJ |last=McKnight |first=Hugh |date=1 August 2013 |orig-date=1st pub. 1984 |page=28 |publisher=Adlard Coles Nautical |location=London, UK |isbn=978-1-408-19796-7 |access-date=2015-07-13}} Thank to the European funded project Blue Links, the waterway has been reopened to boating traffic since 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.fluviacarte.com/en/navigable-waterways/country-nord-1/waterway-canal-de-roubaix-14 |title=From Marquette to la frontière Belge |website=Fluviacarte, cartes et guides pour la navigation intérieure |editor-last1=Devisme |editor-first1=Philippe |editor-last2=Join-Lambert |editor-first2=Patrick |author=Marion Gadault |author2=Teddy Grandsire |author3=Patrice Gonzalez |author4=Laure Join-Lambert |author5=Dominique Leonardi |author6=Véronique Malek |author7=Carmen Momenceau |author8=Nathalia Momenceau |author9=Catherine Ruget |location=Lattes, F |year=2015 |publisher=Editions de l'Écluse |access-date=2015-07-13}}

The area of the city is not known for undergoing unusual weather events. In regard to the town's geographical location{{cite web |url=http://plu-lillemetropole.com/plucd1/pdf/rp/rp11.pdf |author=Lille Métropole Communauté Urbaine |website=PLU de Lille Métropole |title=Présentation générale du territoire communautaire et environnement du 8 octobre 2004 (Titre I – présentation générale du site et caractéristiques géophysiques) |series=RAPPORT DE PRESENTATION |publisher=LMCU |location=Lille, F |date=8 October 2004 |pages=17–18 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-25}} and the results of the Météo-France's weather station of Lille-Lesquin,{{cite web |url=http://www.lameteo.org/index.php/climatologie/1627-normales-climatiques-1981-2010-lille |editor-last=Decker |editor-first=Frédéric |title=Lille (Nord) |series=Normales climatiques 1981–2010 |date=2015 |website=LaMétéo.org |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-25}}{{cite web |url=http://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie-07015-lille-lesquin.html |title=Lille-Lesquin (59) – altitude 47m |series=Normes et records 1961–1990 |date=2011 |website=ASSOCIATION INFOCLIMAT |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-25}} Roubaix is a temperate oceanic climate: while summer experiences mild temperatures, winter's temperatures may fall to below zero. Precipitation is infrequently intense.

{{Weather box|width=auto

|location = Roubaix (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1965−present)

|single line = Y

|metric first = Y

|Jan record high C = 15.5

|Feb record high C = 19.2

|Mar record high C = 25.5

|Apr record high C = 28.5

|May record high C = 33.0

|Jun record high C = 35.0

|Jul record high C = 42.1

|Aug record high C = 37.5

|Sep record high C = 35.5

|Oct record high C = 28.0

|Nov record high C = 20.1

|Dec record high C = 15.5

|Jan record low C = -14.5

|Feb record low C = -12.5

|Mar record low C = -7.5

|Apr record low C = -2.5

|May record low C = -1.0

|Jun record low C = 3.0

|Jul record low C = 5.0

|Aug record low C = 5.0

|Sep record low C = 3.0

|Oct record low C = -3.5

|Nov record low C = -7.0

|Dec record low C = -10.5

|Jan high C = 6.7

|Feb high C = 7.5

|Mar high C = 11.1

|Apr high C = 14.7

|May high C = 18.7

|Jun high C = 21.3

|Jul high C = 23.8

|Aug high C = 23.9

|Sep high C = 20.2

|Oct high C = 15.6

|Nov high C = 10.5

|Dec high C = 7.2

|year high C = 15.1

|Jan mean C = 4.1

|Feb mean C = 4.5

|Mar mean C = 7.4

|Apr mean C = 10.1

|May mean C = 13.9

|Jun mean C = 16.6

|Jul mean C = 18.9

|Aug mean C = 18.9

|Sep mean C = 15.7

|Oct mean C = 11.9

|Nov mean C = 7.7

|Dec mean C = 4.8

|year mean C = 11.2

|Jan low C = 1.6

|Feb low C = 1.5

|Mar low C = 3.7

|Apr low C = 5.5

|May low C = 9.2

|Jun low C = 11.9

|Jul low C = 14.0

|Aug low C = 13.9

|Sep low C = 11.2

|Oct low C = 8.2

|Nov low C = 4.8

|Dec low C = 2.4

|year low C = 7.4

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 69.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 54.6

|Mar precipitation mm = 63.9

|Apr precipitation mm = 53.3

|May precipitation mm = 67.8

|Jun precipitation mm = 71.6

|Jul precipitation mm = 74.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 70.0

|Sep precipitation mm = 68.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 77.1

|Nov precipitation mm = 81.5

|Dec precipitation mm = 81.4

|year precipitation mm = 833.2

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 13.0

|Feb precipitation days = 10.8

|Mar precipitation days = 12.3

|Apr precipitation days = 10.6

|May precipitation days = 11.3

|Jun precipitation days = 9.8

|Jul precipitation days = 10.3

|Aug precipitation days = 8.9

|Sep precipitation days = 10.8

|Oct precipitation days = 12.0

|Nov precipitation days = 13.3

|Dec precipitation days = 13.1

|year precipitation days = 136.2

|source 1 = Météo-France{{cite web

| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_59512001.pdf

| title=Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records

| language = fr

| publisher = Météo-France

| access-date = 7 September 2022}}}}

The current city's name is most likely derived from Frankish rausa "reed" and baki "brook".{{cite book |last=Guinet |first=Louis |title=Les emprunts gallo-romans au germanique (du Ier à la fin du Ve siècle) |trans-title=The Gallo-Romance borrowings from Germanic (from the 1st century to the end of the 5th century) |date=1982 |pages=32–33 |series=Bibliothèque française et romane. Série A, Manuels et études linguistiques; 44 |publisher=Klincksieck |location=Paris, F |language=fr}}{{cite book |last=van Overstraeten |first=Jozef |title=De Nederlanden in Frankrijk |trans-title=Low Countries in France |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU2gAAAAMAAJ |date=1969 |pages=465–466 |language=nl |series=Beknopte encyclopedie |publisher=Vlaamse Toeristenbond |location=Antwerp, B |quote=…881 of 887 villa Rusbaci ≺ Germ. rausa = riet + baki = beek… |oclc=901682478 |access-date=2015-06-22}} Therefore, the meaning of Roubaix can, in all likelihood, find its origin on the banks of its three historical brooks: Espierre, Trichon and Favreuil.{{cite book |last1=Trénard |first1=Louis |last2=Diligent |first2=André |editor-last=Hilaire |editor-first=Yves-Marie |title=Histoire de Roubaix |trans-title=History of Roubaix |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hAgAAAAMAAJ |series=Collection Histoire des villes du Nord/Pas-de-Calais |volume=6 |date=1984 |page=10 |publisher=Éditions Des Beffrois : Westhoek-Editions |location=Dunkerque, F |isbn=978-2-903-07743-3 |oclc=14127874 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-09}} The place was mentioned for the first time in a Latinised form in the 9th century: Villa Rusbaci.{{cite book |last=Nègre |first=Ernest |title=Toponymie générale de la France, vol. 2 |trans-title=General Toponymy of France, Vol II |date=1996 |orig-date=1st pub. 1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbpVLN1tRNoC |publisher=Librairie Droz |location=Geneva, CH |language=fr |isbn=978-2-600-00133-5 |access-date=2013-10-16}}{{cite book |last=Gastal |first=Pierre |title=Sous le français, le gaulois: Histoire, vocabulaire, étymologie, toponymie |trans-title=Gallic under the French: History, vocabulary, etymology, toponymy |date=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0AcAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Éditions Le Sureau |location=Méolans-Revel, F |language=fr |isbn=978-2-911-32807-7 |access-date=2015-06-22}} Thereafter, the following names were in use: 1047 and 1106 Rubais, 1122 Rosbays, 1166 Rusbais, 1156 and 1202 Robais, 1223 Roubais.{{cite web |url=http://bouwstoffen.kantl.be/tw/lemma/?id=13536 |title=Toponymisch Woordenboek van België, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland (vóór 1226) door Maurits Gysseling (1960) |trans-title=Toponymic dictionary of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Northern France and Western Germany (before 1226) by Maurits Gysseling (1960) |last=Gysseling |first=Maurits |date=1960 |publisher=Centrum voor Teksteditie en Bronnenstudie |language=nl |access-date=2015-06-17}} Over the span of centuries, the name evolved to Roubaix as shown on Mercator's map of Flanders published at Leuven in 1540.{{cite web |url=http://www.orteliusmaps.com/topnames/ort76.html |title=Cartographica Neerlandica Topographical names for Ortelius Map No. 76 |others=FLANDRIA "Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus Describebat" [Flanders, which Gerardus Mercator from Rupelmonde has depicted] "Cum priuilegio" [With privilege] |editor-last1=van den Broecke |editor-first1=Marcel |editor-last2=van den Broecke-Günzburger |editor-first2=Deborah |year=2008 |location=Bilthoven, NL |website=Cartographica Neerlandica |publisher=Marcel & Deborah van den Broecke |access-date=2016-05-21}}

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,{{cite book |last1=Tilly |first1=Louise |last2=Tilly |first2=Charles |date=1 June 1981 |title=Class Conflict and Collective Action |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AYEAQAAIAAJ |series=New Approaches to Social Science History |location=Thousand Oaks (California), USA |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-0-803-91587-9 |page=170 |volume=1 |access-date=2015-07-27 |quote=In some areas of France, Flemish was spoken by the natives; but since Roubaix lies just outside French Flanders, native Roubaisians spoke only French, hence the language disparity.}} the seldom-heard renderings Robeke{{cite book |last=Schuermans |first=Lodewijk Willem |title=Algemeen Vlaamsch idioticon, Met Tijd en Vlijt |trans-title=General Flemish idioticon, with time and assiduity |date=1865 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zu5CAAAAcAAJ |publisher=Gebroeders Vanlinthout |location=Leuven, B |language=nl |page=268 |access-date=2015-06-22}}{{cite book |last=Fortuné |first=Raymond |title=Histoire du Hainaut français et du Cambresis |trans-title=History of the French Hainaut and Cambresis |date=1899 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh8DpyiCUJ8C |publisher=Editions Paul Lechevalier |location=Paris, F |language=fr |page=61 |access-date=2015-06-22}} and Roodebeeke{{cite journal |last=Kolff |first=Gualtherus Johannes |author-link=Gualtherus Johannes Cornelis Kolff |date=28 October 1914 |title=De Belgische Plaatsnamen |trans-title=Belgian place names |journal=Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad |publisher=G.J. Kolff & Co. |language=nl |url=http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011036840:mpeg21:a0039 |page=6 |access-date=2015-06-23}} are documented for Roubaix.{{cite book |last1=Schuermans |first1=Lodewijk Willem |last2=David |first2=Jan Baptist |last3=Du Bois |first3=Pierre |year=1883 |title=Bejvoegsel: aan het Algemeen Vlaamsch idioticon uitgegeven in 1865-1870 |trans-title=General Flemish idioticon issued in 1865-1870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CwwAAAAYAAJ |page=268 |language=nl |location=Leuven, B |publisher=K. Fonteyn |oclc=23400838 |access-date=2017-02-24 |quote=ROBAAIS, zoo las ik ergens vertaald den naam der fransche stad Roubaix, 't welk beter Roobeek of Robeke zou zijn}} Furthermore, the Dutch Language Union established Robaais as the city's proper Dutch name.{{cite web |url=http://taaladvies.net/taal/aardrijkskundige_namen/zoek.php?q=roubaix |title=Buitenlandse Aardrijkskundige Namen |trans-title=Foreign Geographical Names |publisher=taaladvies.net |language=nl |access-date=2014-04-29}} 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 Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) laid in 1840 and the Church of Notre Dame laid in 1842.{{cite book |last=Leuridan |first=Théodore |date=1862 |title=Histoire des seigneurs et de la seigneurie de Roubaix |trans-title=History of the lords and lordships of Roubaix |series=Histoire de Roubaix |volume=3 |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AylUAAAAcAAJ |location=Roubaix, F |oclc=466447211 |language=fr |publisher=Imprimerie J. Reboux |access-date=2015-06-21}}

{{see also|Timeline of Roubaix}}During the repression of January and February 1894, the police conducted raids targeting the anarchists living there, without much success.{{Cite news |date=3 January 1894 |title=Les anarchistes |trans-title=The anarchists |work=La Dépêche |pages=2}}{{Cite journal |date=2 January 1894 |title=Deux mille perquisitions |journal=L'Estafette |pages=2}}{{Cite news |date=3 January 1894 |title=Une série générale de perquisitions : résultat négatif des recherches |trans-title=A general series of raids: negative results |work=L'Éclair}}File:Old Roubaix 1699.jpg

{{Blazon-arms

| img1=Blason ville fr Roubaix (Nord).svg

| legend1=Arms of Roubaix

| text=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.

}}

Inhabitants of Roubaix are known in English as "Roubaisians" and in French as Roubaisiens ({{IPA|fr|ʁu.bɛ.zjɛ̃ |pron}}) or in the feminine form Roubaisiennes ({{IPA|fr|ʁu.bɛ.zjɛn|pron}}), also natively called Roubaignots ({{IPA|fr|ʁu.bɛ.njo|pron}}) or in the feminine form Roubaignotes ({{IPA|fr|ʁu.bɛ.njoz|pron}}).{{cite book |last=Ireland |first=Patrick Richard |date=1 January 1994 |title=The Policy Challenge of Ethnic Diversity: Immigrant Politics in France and Switzerland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsRnAAAAMAAJ |location=Cambridge (Massachusetts), USA |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-68375-4 |access-date=2015-07-27 |quote=Even very large immigrant communities managed to integrate into the ranks of the Roubaignos (native Roubaisians) through their membership in the working class.}}{{cite journal |last=Landrecies |first=Jacques |editor-last=Boutet |editor-first=Josiane |date=March 2001 |title=Une configuration inédite: la triangulaire français-flamand-picard à Roubaix au début du XXe siècle |trans-title=An original configuration: the French-Flemish-Picard linguistic triangle in Roubaix at the start of the 20th century |journal=Langage et Société |volume=97 |publisher=Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme |location=Paris, F |others=French-language web portal and library Cairn.info |issue=3 |language=fr |doi=10.3917/ls.097.0027 |url=http://www.cairn.info/revue-langage-et-societe-2001-3-page-27.htm |pages=27–69 |isbn=978-2-735-10894-7 |issn=0181-4095 |access-date=2015-07-29|url-access=subscription }}{{cite book |last=Bowen |first=Reginald |year=1937 |title=La formation du féminin de l'adjectif et du participe passé dans les dialectes normands, picards et wallons d'après l'Atlas linguistique de la France |trans-title=The Feminine formation of adjectives and past participles in Norman, Picard and Wallon dialects according to the Linguistic Atlas of France |language=fr |location=Paris, F |publisher=Librairie Droz |oclc=252979177}}

{{See also|Demographics of France}}

{{Historical populations

|percentages = pagr

|footnote = From 1962 to 1999: population without double counting

|source = L.E. Marissal for 1716, 1789, 1801, 1805, 1817, 1830 and 1842,{{cite book |last=Marissal |first=Louis-Edmond |date=1844 |title=Recherches pour servir à l'histoire de Roubaix de 1400 à nos jours |pages=108–109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wf8GYAAACAAJ |location=Roubaix, F |language=fr |oclc=253762961 |publisher=Impr. de Beghin |quote=1716: 4 715; 1789: 8 559; 1801: 8 151; 1805: 8 703; 1817:8 724; 1830: 13 132; 1842: 24,892 |access-date=2012-01-10 }} Comte du Muy for 1764,{{cite book |last=de Félix |first=Louis-Nicolas-Victor |author-link=Louis Nicolas Victor de Félix d'Ollières |date=1764 |title=Mémoires sur les frontières et places de la Flandre, du Haynault, du pays entre Sambre et Meuze, du Calaisis, de l'Artois, du cours de la Somme et des Trois-Évèchez jusques à l'Alsace |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52511017j/f377 |type=manuscript |others=Français 11409 |page=969 }} Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 2006{{Cassini-Ehess|29736|Roubaix}} and INSEE from 2007[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-59512#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

| graph-pos = bottom

| align = right

| cols = 2

|1716 |4715

|1764 |7363

|1789 |8559

|1793 |9120

|1800 |8091

|1801 |8151

|1805 |8703

|1806 |8724

|1817 |8724

|1821 |12170

|1830 |13132

|1831 |18187

|1836 |19455

|1841 |24802

|1842 |24892

|1846 |31039

|1851 |34698

|1856 |39445

|1861 |49274

|1866 |65091

|1872 |75987

|1876 |83661

|1881 |91757

|1886 |100299

|1891 |114917

|1896 |124661

|1901 |124365

|1906 |121017

|1911 |122723

|1921 |113265

|1926 |117209

|1931 |117190

|1936 |107105

|1946 |100978

|1954 |110067

|1962 |112856

|1968 |114547

|1975 |109553

|1982 |101602

|1990 |97746

|1999 |96984

|2007 |97423

|2012 |94536

|2017 |96990

}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Declercq |first1=Elien |last2=Vanden Borre |first2=Saartje |url=http://fh.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/1/91.full |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221134226/http://fh.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/1/91.full |archive-date=2015-02-21 |title=Cultural integration of Belgian migrants in northern France (1870–1914): a Study of Popular songs |year=2013 |series=French History |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=91–108 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |doi=10.1093/fh/crs123 |issn=1477-4542 |access-date=2015-07-15}}{{cite book |last1=Guerin-Gonzales |first1=Camille |last2=Carl |first2=Strikwerda |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofimmigr00cami/page/115 |title=The Politics of Immigrant Workers: Labor Activism and Migration in the World Economy Since 1830 |edition=2 revised |year=1998 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/politicsofimmigr00cami/page/115 115–133] |publisher=Holmes & Meier |location=New York (New York), USA |isbn=978-0-841-91298-4 |quote=All Merrheim's years living in a French city that was over a third Belgian never made him question the ability of workers of different nationalities to unite. |access-date=2015-07-15 }}

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,{{cite book |last1=de Planhol |first1=Xavier |last2=Clava |first2=Paul |title=An Historical Geography of France |volume=21 |series=Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C19glZh7zfoC |year=1994 |page=402 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge (New York), USA |isbn=978-0-521-32208-9 |issn=1747-3128 |oclc=27266536 |access-date=2015-07-13}} 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.{{cite book |author=Ministère des affaires étrangères du royaume de Belgique |title=Recueil consulaire, contenant les rapports commerciaux des agents belges à l'étranger |volume=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C19glZh7zfoC |year=1873 |page=971 |publisher=P. Weissenbruch, Imprimeur du Roi |location=Brussels, B |isbn=978-0-521-32208-9 |quote=D'après un recensement récent, la population de Roubaix s'élève aujourd'hui à 75,987 habitants, dont 42,103 belges. En 1866 le recensement accusait une population totale de 64,706 habitants, dont 30,465 belges. |access-date=2015-07-16}} Nonetheless, the rate of natural increase shew to be a more important component of the population growth in that period.{{cite book |last=Moch |first=Leslie Page |title=Moving Europeans: Migration in Western Europe Since 1650 |series=Interdisciplinary studies in history |date=2003 |orig-date=First published 1992 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington (Indiana), USA |isbn=978-0-253-21595-6 |oclc=50774361 |page=135 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=96zOZiiOKXgC |access-date=2015-07-13}}

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.{{cite book |last=Stone |first=David |date=1 June 2015 |title=The Kaiser's Army: The German Army in World War One |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1e7sCAAAQBAJ |location=London, UK |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=400 |isbn=978-1-844-86235-1 |access-date=2015-07-25}} Over this occupation period, Roubaisians suffered from dearth, deportation for compulsory labour and unusual casualties{{cite book |last=Kramer |first=Alan |date=12 July 2007 |title=Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WecdxSfLfN0C |page=42 |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-192-80342-9 |access-date=2015-07-25 |quote=The death rate is high; in ordinary times two gravediggers were enough in Roubaix, and now there are six of them}} with a rather slight population drop from 122,723 to 113,265 between the 1911 and 1921 censuses.{{cite book |last=Tilly |first=Charles |date=July 1983 |title=Collective-action repertoires in five French provinces, 1789–1914 |series=CRSO Working Paper |url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/51068/300.pdf |location=Ann Arbor (Michigan), USA |publisher=University of Michigan |volume=300 |page=17 |access-date=2015-07-25 |quote=In fact, the population of Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing, a combat zone in World War I, fell slightly between 1901 and 1921.}}

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.

As of 2019, at least 25% of residents in Roubaix were immigrants, mainly of Arab, North African, Turkish, and Sub-Saharan African origin.{{Cite web |title=Roubaix (Lille, Nord, France) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/france/nord/lille/59512__roubaix/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}{{Cite web |title=About Roubaix {{!}} Visualizing French Muslims |url=https://www.colleenlnugent.com/frenchmuslims/roubaix/about-roubaix/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=La ségrégation résidentielle en France |url=https://francestrategie.shinyapps.io/app_seg/ |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=francestrategie.shinyapps.io}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Landrecies |first1=Jacques |last2=Petit |first2=Aimé |date=1 April 2003 |title=Picard d'hier et d'aujourd'hui |trans-title=Yesterday's and today's Picard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e93nAAAAMAAJ |language=fr |journal=Bien dire et bien aprandre – Bulletin du Centre d'études médiévales et dialectales de l'Université de Lille III |issue=21 |page=11 |location=Villeneuve d'Ascq, F |publisher=Centre de Gestion de l'Édition Scientifique (CEGES) |isbn=978-2-907-30105-3 |access-date=2015-09-26 |quote=…aborder le difficile problème de l'"accent", cette dernière marque qui subsiste quand le patois a disparu et qui, plus que tout, permet de distinguer l'Abbevillois de l'Artésien ou du "Roubaignot".}}{{cite book |last=Pooley |first=Timothy |title=Chtimi: The Urban Vernaculars of Northern France |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijK0jorL2uEC |date=30 December 1996 |pages=104–140 |series=Applications in French Linguistics Series |publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd. |location=Clevedon, UK |isbn=978-1-853-59345-1 |access-date=2015-09-30}} Until the early 20th century this patois prevailed.{{cite book |last=Pooley |first=Timothy |editor-last1=Jones |editor-first1=Mari C. |editor-last2=Esch |editor-first2=Edith |date=9 October 2002 |title=Language Change: The Interplay of Internal, External, and Extra-linguistic Factors |series=Contributions to the sociology of language |volume=86 |chapter=The depicardization of the vernaculars of the Lille conurbation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKftmhoP4gYC |location=Berlin, D |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH |isbn=978-3-110-17202-7 |issn=1861-0676 |page=34 |access-date=2015-07-27 |quote=Viez notes the enduring prevalence of Picard in Roubaix in the early twentieth century despite progressive francization favoured by urbanization and industrialization}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Viez |first1=Henri-Aimé |year=1978 |orig-date=1st pub. 1910 |title=Le parler populaire patois de Roubaix: étude phonétique |trans-title=Patois of Roubaix: a phonetic study of the popular dialect |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DNKAAAAYAAJ |page=7 |language=fr |location=Geneva, CH |publisher=Slatkine Reprints |access-date=2015-07-27 |quote=…du parler populaire de Roubaix, tel qu'il était couramment employé avant que l'instruction primaire ne fût devenue obligatoire.}}

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

In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, many Jews left their homes and emigrated.{{cite magazine |last=Gopnik |first=Adam |date=9 May 1994 |title=A Reporter at Large: The Ghost of the Glass House |magazine=The New Yorker |location=New York (New York), USA |publisher=F-R Publishing Corporation |page=58 |issn=0028-792X |quote=Many of them had German names. They had fled from Alsace-Lorraine as the Franco-Prussian War ended, in 1871.}}{{cite book |last1=Gilbert |first1=Barbara C. |last2=Fishel Deshmukh |first2=Marion |date=30 September 2005 |title=Max Liebermann: from realism to impressionism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOzpAAAAMAAJ |location=Los Angeles (California), USA |publisher=Skirball Cultural Center |isbn=978-0-970-42956-8 |page=202 |access-date=2015-09-28 |quote=After Alsace-Lorraine territory is annexed by the German Empire, thousands of Alsatian Jews emigrate to France.}} Jewish arrival in Roubaix derives from that bitter period of history.{{cite journal |editor-last1=Reboux |editor-first1=Alfred |date=5 October 1872 |title=Roubaix et le nord de la France |trans-title=Roubaix and northern France |url=http://www.bn-r.fr/presse/pdf/PRA_JRX/PDF/1872/PRA_JRX_18721003_002.pdf |access-date=2017-12-04 |language=fr |journal=Journal de Roubaix |volume=17 |issue=3052 |page=2 |location=Roubaix, F |via=Bibliothèque numérique de Roubaix}} At the time, the new immigrant community, even though its small size, dedicated a building to Jewish faith and liturgical practises.{{cite book |last1=Viey |first1=Frédéric |last2=d'Almeida |first2=Franck |date=June 2009 |title=Histoire des communautés juives du Nord et de Picardie |trans-title=History of the Jewish Communities of the North and Picardy Regions |url=http://www.synagoguedevalenciennes.com/pages_Histoire_des_Juifs_FR/Histoire_des_communautes_juives_du_nord_et_de_picardie_par_frederic_viey_synagogues_du_Nord.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115064855/http://www.synagoguedevalenciennes.com/pages_Histoire_des_Juifs_FR/Histoire_des_communautes_juives_du_nord_et_de_picardie_par_frederic_viey_synagogues_du_Nord.html |archive-date=2013-11-15 |language=fr |location=Valenciennes, F |publisher=Synagogue de Valenciennes |pages=24–25 |access-date=2015-09-27 }}{{cite book |last1=Cahen |first1=Isidore |last2=Prague |first2=Hippolyte |year=1894 |title=Archives israélites – Recueil politique et religieux |trans-title=Israelite Archive – Political and religious reports |url=https://archive.org/stream/archivesisralit00unkngoog/archivesisralit00unkngoog_djvu.txt |language=fr |location=Paris, F |publisher=Bureau des Archives Israelites |page=23 |volume=Tome LV |access-date=2015-09-27 |quote=M. Maurice Marx, fils du ministre-officiant de la Synagogue de Roubaix, a été nommé dans le courant de novembre au commandement de la canonnière l'Onyx. Ce jeune officier est un ancien élève de l'École polytechnique.}}{{cite book |last1=Delmaire |first1=Danielle |year=2001 |title=Les communautés juives septentrionales, 1791–1939: Naissance, croissance, épanouissement |trans-title=Jewries in Northern France from 1791 to 1939: birth, growth, development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=875tAAAAMAAJ |language=fr |location=Villeneuve d'Ascq, F |publisher=Presses Universitaires du Septentrion |isbn=978-2-284-01645-8 |volume=2 |pages=714–719 |access-date=2015-09-30 |others=State doctoral thesis – Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III – January 1998 }} 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.{{cite journal |last=Renoul |first=Bruno |date=10 September 2015 |title=Roubaix commémore l'époque où elle avait une synagogue |trans-title=Roubaix commemorates the time when it had a synagogue |url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/roubaix-commemore-l-epoque-ou-elle-avait-une-synagogue-ia24b58797n3036470 |language=fr |journal=La Voix du Nord |location=Roubaix, F |issn=0999-2189 |access-date=2015-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930002319/http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/roubaix-commemore-l-epoque-ou-elle-avait-une-synagogue-ia24b58797n3036470 |archive-date=30 September 2015 }} Despite the closure of the synagogue, the occupation and police raids,{{refn|group=note| The Jewish population of Roubaix dropped from 160 members in the beginning of its settlement to 68 in 1942.{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Wigoder |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Spector |first2=Shmuel |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust |title=K-Sered – Roubaix |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZzY8sG8yNsC |access-date=2015-09-27 |date=1 January 2001 |publisher=New York University Press |volume=2 |location=New York (New York), USA |isbn=978-0-814-7935-65 |page=1098}}}}{{cite book |last1=Michman |first1=Dan |date=May 1998 |title=Belgium and the Holocaust: Jews, Belgians, Germans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gpk7P_mMFyUC |location=Jerusalem |publisher=Daf-Noy Press|isbn=978-9-653-08068-3 |pages=335–336 |quote=A massive round-up, i.e., large-scale random arrests, of Jews in northern France was conducted on September 11, 1942, at the same time as the one in Antwerp […] On October 27, 1943, the Germans arrested two Jewish families in Croix and Roubaix.}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Wieviorka |author-link1=Michel Wieviorka |first1=Michel |last2=Bataille |first2=Philippe |translator-last1=Couper Lobel |translator-first1=Kristin |translator-last2=Declerck |translator-first2=Anna |date=September 2007 |title=The Lure of Anti-Semitism: Hatred of Jews in Present-Day France |series=Jewish Identities in a Changing World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EljRLlwxgFAC |volume=10 |page=98 |location=Leiden, NL |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=978-9-004-16337-9 |access-date=2015-09-30 |quote=Roubaix does not have a Jewish community and there is no Jewish place of worship, intra muros.}} The house inside which the first one was created 123 years ago, has been demolished since an urban renewal project occurred in 2000. On 10 September 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.

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 at least 20% of the population were Muslims.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/world/europe/a-french-town-bridges-the-gap-between-muslims-and-non-muslims.html |title=A French Town Bridges the Gap Between Muslims and Non-Muslims |last1=Johannsen Rubin |first1=Alissa |date=5 August 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2016-01-11 |quote=In Roubaix, the mayor's office estimates that the Muslim population is as much as 20,000, or about 20 percent of the population.}} Over one-in-three residents in Roubaix are of Arab, North African, Turkish, and Sub-Saharan African origin. Four areas of the cemetery were designated for Muslims.{{cite journal |last=Gilman |first=Julien |date=31 October 2014 |title=Roubaix: la Ville veut vendre douze chapelles funéraires abandonnées |trans-title=The City of Roubaix is willing to sell twelve abandoned funeral chapels |url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/roubaix-la-ville-veut-vendre-douze-chapelles-funeraires-ia24b58797n2466688 |language=fr |journal=La Voix du Nord |location=Roubaix, F |issn=0999-2189 |access-date=2016-09-14}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Liogier |first1=Raphaël |author-link1=Raphaël Liogier |date=29 March 2004 |title=Le bouddhisme mondialisé: Une perspective sociologique sur la globalisation du religieux |trans-title=Globalised Buddhism: A sociological perspective on the globalisation of religions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s2HYAAAAMAAJ |series=Référence géopolitique |language=fr |location=Paris, F |publisher=Ellipses Marketing |isbn=978-2-7298-1402-1 |page=268 |access-date=2016-09-14}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.bouddhismes.net/annuaire-FRANCE-nord |title=Annuaire des Centres bouddhistes: Nord - Pas-de-Calais |trans-title=Directory for Buddhist communities: Nord - Pas-de-Calais |author=Centre francophone d'étude et d'enseignement sur le bouddhisme |year=2006 |website=Institut d'Études Bouddhiques |language=fr |location=Paris, F |publisher=IEB |access-date=2016-09-18 |archive-date=20 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920203809/http://www.bouddhismes.net/annuaire-FRANCE-nord }}

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.{{cite book |last=Leuridan |first=Théodore |date=1863 |title=Histoire des institutions communales et municipales de la ville de Roubaix |series=Histoire de Roubaix |volume=4 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_A1BAAAAcAAJ |location=Roubaix, F |oclc=466447211 |language=fr |publisher=Imprimerie J. Reboux |access-date=2015-07-18}} 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.{{cite book |last=Tellier |first=Thibault |date=16 March 2006 |title=Roubaix: cinquante ans de transformations urbaines et de mutations sociales |trans-title=Fifty years of urban transformations and social mutations in Roubaix |chapter=Le développement urbain de Roubaix dans la première partie du XXe siècle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kyI0oPg2LsC |editor-last=David |editor-first=Michel |language=fr |series=Histoire et civilisations |volume=972 |page=43 |location=Villeneuve d'Ascq, F |publisher=Presses Universitaires du Septentrion |isbn=978-2-859-39926-9 |issn=1284-5655 |access-date=2015-07-21 |quote=…c'est en fait le développement vers le sud qui semble le plus prometteur…}}

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.

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

• Epeule
• Fresnoy-Mackellerie
• Trichon

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

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

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

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}}

Roubaix is twinned with:{{cite web |url=https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/cncdext/dyn/public/atlas/rechercheAtlasFrance.html?criteres.collectiviteId=23911 |title=Atlas français de la coopération décentralisée et des autres actions extérieures |date=2014 |publisher=France Diplomatie |website=Commission nationale de la coopération décentralisée |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-07}}

• {{flagicon|UK}} Bradford, United Kingdom, since 1969{{cite web |url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |title=British towns twinned with French towns |access-date=2013-07-11 |work=Archant Community Media Ltd}}
• {{flagicon|GER}} Mönchengladbach, Germany, since 1969{{cite book |last=Piat |first=Jean |title=Victor Provo: 1903–1983: Roubaix témoigne et accuse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhgRAQAAMAAJ |date=1985 |page=124 |publisher=Éditions Des Beffrois |location=Dunkerque, F |language=fr |isbn=978-2-903-07747-1 |access-date=2015-07-07}}{{cite book |last1=Catrice |first1=Paul |last2=Provo |first2=Victor |last3=Trénard |first3=Louis |last4=Teneul |first4=Georges-François |title=Roubaix au-delà des mers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JsYaAAAAMAAJ |date=1969 |page=26 |publisher=Société d'émulation de Roubaix |location=Roubaix, F |language=fr |oclc=493340579 |access-date=2015-07-07}}
• {{flagicon|BEL}} Verviers, Belgium, since 1969
• {{flagicon|NMK}} Skopje, North Macedonia, since 1973{{cite web |url=http://www.skopje.gov.mk/EN/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=69 |title=Skopje – Twin towns & Sister cities |access-date=2013-11-04 |work=Official portal of City of Skopje |publisher= Grad Skopje – 2006 – 2013, skopje.gov.mk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024131101/http://www.skopje.gov.mk/EN/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=69 |archive-date=24 October 2013}}
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Prato, Italy, since 1981{{cite book |last=Passarelli |first=Pasquale |title=Toscana |series=Comuni d'Italia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JL4rAQAAIAAJ |date=1999 |page=293 |publisher=Istituto enciclopedico italiano |location=Monteroduni (Isernia), I |language=it |isbn=978-8-887-98326-5 |access-date=2015-07-07}}
• {{flagicon|POL}} Sosnowiec, Poland, since 1993{{cite web |url=http://www.sosnowiec.pl/en/artykuly/k1,420,study_in_sosnowiec/en/artykuly/k1,419,sosnowiec_actively/k2,416,foreign_cooperation/k3,462,roubaix/ |title=Roubaix |date=9 June 2006 |publisher=Urzad Miejski w Sosnowcu |website=Sosnowiec laczy |access-date=2015-07-05}}
• {{flagicon|POR}} Covilhã, Portugal, since 2000{{cite web |url=http://www.cm-covilha.pt/simples/?f=2354 |title=ROUBAIX (França) |date=20 October 2000 |publisher=Câmara Municipal da Covilhã |language=pt |website=Covilhã Município |access-date=2015-07-07}}
• {{flagicon|ALG}} Bouïra, Algeria, since 2003

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.{{cite journal |last=Vermeersch |first=Olivier |date=April 2013 |title=The Québec's deleguation attends CETI's official inauguration – La délégation Québécoise à l'inauguration officielle du CETI |journal=La Revue du Textile – the Textile Journal |publisher=CTT Group |volume=130 No. 1 |url=http://issuu.com/thetextilejournal/docs/rdt_vol._130-1_lr_links |issue=HIGHTEX |page=38 |issn=0008-5170 |access-date=2015-06-22}} 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 13 December 2000.{{cite web |url=http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/conferen/tasca-noisiel.htm |title=Allocution de Catherine Tasca – Ville de Noisiel: Signature de la convention VILLE ET PAYS D'ART ET D'HISTOIRE |last=Tasca |first=Catherine |date=13 December 2000 |publisher=Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication |language=fr |access-date=2015-06-22}} 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 registered as monuments historiques

file:Centre_médical_Barbieux.jpg|Barbieux health centre

file:Roubaix_ENSAIT.jpg|ENSAIT

file:Roubaix hotel - Catteau - 2013.jpg|Prouvost private mansion

file:Roubaix-maison-art-nouveau-16-bd-general-leclerc.jpg|Art nouveau house

file:Roubaix_maison_28_rue_du_Maréchal-Foch.jpg|Three-storey stately house

file:Roubaix maison cogghe.JPG|Rémy Cogghe's house

file:Roubaix_palais_justice.jpg|Law court

file:Roubaix_reservoir_Huchon.jpg|Huchon water tower

file:Roubaix archives travail 2.JPG|National Archives of the Working World

file:Tourcoing.-Palais Vaissier rue de Mouvaux MH PA00107841 (4).jpg|Concierge of the demolished Palais Vaissier

;Religious structures registered as monuments historiques

file:PA59000169_couvant_des_Clarisses_de_Roubaix_-_Nord.jpg|Convent of Clarisses

file:RoubaixAncienneEgliseNotreDame.JPG|Deconsecrated Church Notre-Dame

file:Roubaix - Église Saint-Martin 01.jpg|Church Saint-Martin

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.artconnexion.org/espace-public-public-realm/43-wim-delvoye--discobolos |title=Wim Delvoye / Discobolos |author=Artconnexion |date=5 June 2010 |website=Artconnexion: contemporary art production and mediation consultants |access-date=2015-07-19}} The sculptures and memorial monuments in Roubaix which deserve notice for their historical or artistical interest are mentioned below.

• Discobolos: a New patrons project by 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 committeeA local association (as per the 1901 law about association) called "Comité de quartier de l'Hommelet" and inaugurated on 5 June 2010{{cite web |editor-last1=Legierse |editor-first1=Thérèse |url=http://www.nouveauxcommanditaires.eu/en/25/232/ |title=Wim Delvoye – Discobolos |author=Société internationale des Nouveaux commanditaires |year=2010 |location=Brussels, B |website=Les Nouveaux Commanditaires |access-date=2016-03-31}}
• Joan of Arc statue: Maxime Real del Sarte (sculptor), inaugurated on 27 May 1952
• Memorial to Jean-Baptiste Lebas: Albert de Jaeger (sculptor), funded through public subscription and inaugurated on 23 October 1949{{cite web |author=Médiathèque de Roubaix |url=http://www.bn-r.fr/fr/notice.php?id=CP_A11_L7_S1_005 |title=Monument Jean Lebas |website=Bibliothèque numérique de Roubaix |publisher=Mairie de Roubaix |location=Roubaix, F |year=1980 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-19}}
• 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","Roubaix has its martyrs of the Resistance" and "They broke the chains of oppression" ordered by the City council and inaugurated on 11 November 1948{{cite book |last=Piat |first=Jean |title=Victor Provo: 1903–1983: Roubaix témoigne et accuse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhgRAQAAMAAJ |date=1985 |page=50 |publisher=Éditions Des Beffrois |location=Dunkerque, F |language=fr |isbn=978-2-903-07747-1 |quote=Le 11 novembre 1948, le ciseau du grand prix de Rome, le Roubaisien Albert de Jaeger, grava leur souvenir dans la pierre d'un monument Aux Martyrs de la Résistance, érigé sur l'ancienne place Chevreul. |access-date=2015-07-20}}
• Memorial to Eugène Motte: Raoul Bénard (sculptor), Gustave Poubel (architect), funded through public subscription and inaugurated on 22 September 1935{{cite web |author=Mairie de Roubaix |url=http://fr.calameo.com/read/0003393756fae8265cfec |title=Roubaix: Parc Barbieux et Grand Boulevard |publisher=Mairie de Roubaix |location=Roubaix, F |year=2009 |format=PDF |access-date=2015-07-19}}
• Memorial to Jean-Joseph Weerts: Alexandre Descatoire (sculptor), ordered by the City council and inaugurated on 29 October 1931{{cite journal |date=30 November 1931 |title=L'hommage de Roubaix au peintre J.J. Weerts |journal=Le Petit Parisien |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6271982/f1.zoom.r=weerts.langFR |location=Paris, F |page=1 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-19}}
• Memorial to Louis Bossut: Maxime Real del Sarte (sculptor), ordered by the City council and inaugurated on 4 October 1925{{cite book |last=Ramspacher |first=Émile-Georges |date=1863 |title=Le général Estienne: "père des chars" |series=Portrait et aspect de l'histoire |volume=2 |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zxu5AAAAIAAJ |location=Paris, F |isbn=978-2-702-50036-1 |language=fr |publisher=Éditions Charles-Lavauzelle |access-date=2015-07-18}}
• 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","Roubaix to his children died in defense of the country and for peace" ordered by the City council and inaugurated on 18 October 1925{{cite web |url=http://monumentsmorts.univ-lille3.fr/monument/627/roubaix-place/ |title=Monument à Roubaix |author=Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion |date=21 April 2015 |website=Les monuments aux morts France et Belgique |publisher=Laboratoire UMR CNRS IRHiS Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion Université de Lille |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-19}}
• Memorial to Jules Guesde: Georgette Agutte-Sembat (sculptor), Albert Bührer (architect), funded through public subscription and inaugurated on 12 April 1925{{cite book |author=Social Democratic Federation |year=1925 |title=Social-democrat: Incorporating Justice |volume=42 to 44 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x4tAQAAMAAJ |location=London, UK |publisher=Executive Committee of the Social-Democratic Federation |quote=In Roubaix, which has a Socialist majority on the town council, a memorial will be unveiled on Easter Sunday, in honour of Jules Guesde, the great pioneer of Marxian Socialism in France. |access-date=2015-07-19}}{{cite web |url=http://e-monumen.net/patrimoine-monumental/monument-a-jules-guesde-roubaix/ |title=Monument à Jules Guesde – Roubaix |date=17 December 2013 |website= 2015 E-monumen |publisher=E-monumen.net Base de données Géolocalisée du patrimoine monumental Français et Étranger |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-19}}
• Memorial to Amédée Prouvost: Hippolyte Lefèbvre (sculptor), ordered by the City council and inaugurated on 29 October 1922
• Memorial to Pierre Destombes: Corneille Theunissen (sculptor), engraved "Hortorum, Musicae, Librorumque, Studiosus","Friend of the gardens, music and books" ordered by the City council and inaugurated on 29 October 1922{{cite web |url=http://e-monumen.net/patrimoine-monumental/monument-a-pierre-destombes-roubaix/ |title=Monument à Pierre Destombes – Roubaix |date=16 December 2013 |website= 2015 E-monumen |publisher=E-monumen.net Base de données Géolocalisée du patrimoine monumental Français et Étranger |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-19}}
• Memorial to Gustave Nadaud: Alphonse-Amédée Cordonnier (sculptor), Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne (art founder), inaugurated on 11 October 1896{{cite web |url=http://e-monumen.net/patrimoine-monumental/monument-a-gustave-nadaud-roubaix/ |title=Monument à Gustave Nadaud – Roubaix |date=21 December 2013 |website= 2015 E-monumen |publisher=E-monumen.net Base de données Géolocalisée du patrimoine monumental Français et Étranger |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-19}}

Roubaix has been home to two major museums of the region Hauts-de-France since the beginning of the 21st century: La Piscine"The Swimming Pool" and La Manufacture;"The Manufactory" inheriting both of the local socioeconomic history. La Piscine, also known as the Musée d'Art & d'Industrie André Diligent,"André Diligent Museum of Art and Industry" 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.The collections held at the museum include sculptures by Alberto Giacometti, Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel and Pablo Picasso 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/21/france-art-deco-jewel-swimming-pool-art-gallery-reopens |title=France's art deco jewel is reborn to make an even bigger splash |last=Willsher |first=Kim |date=21 October 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian}} La Manufacture is the reference textile museum in northern France. It is hosted in an old weaving factory.

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.{{cite book |last1=Dunthorne |first1=Hugh |last2=Wintle |first2=Michael |date=1 November 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-M0T6ftjEoC |title=The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Britain and the Low Countries |series=National Cultivation of Culture |volume=5 |pages=204–208 |isbn=978-9-004233-79-9 |location=Leyden, NL |publisher=Brill |access-date=2015-07-24}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Ronet |first1=Marc |last2=Gaudichon |first2=Bruno |year=2005 |title=Marc Ronet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dMVNAAAAYAAJ |language=fr |location=Gent, B |publisher=Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon |isbn=978-90-5349-593-3 |page=12 |access-date=2016-03-17}}{{cite book |last1=Cordonnier |first1=Aude |last2=Ceysson |first2=Bernard |year=2005 |title=Collection du Lieu d'art et action contemporaine de Dunkerque |trans-title=Collection of the Lieu d'art et action contemporaine of Dunkirk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlxOAAAAYAAJ |language=fr, en |location=Paris, F |publisher=Somogy Editions d'Art |pages=194–330 |isbn=978-2-85056-871-8 |access-date=2016-03-17}}{{cite web |author=Médiathèque de Roubaix |url=http://www.roubaix-lapiscine.com/publications/114/le-groupe-de-roubaix-un-choix-dans-les-collections-de-la-piscine.html |title=Le groupe de Roubaix: Un choix dans les collections de La Piscine |website=La Piscine – Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent |publisher=Ville de Roubaix |location=Roubaix, F |date=2 July 2010 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-22 |archive-date=4 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004181040/http://www.roubaix-lapiscine.com/publications/114/le-groupe-de-roubaix-un-choix-dans-les-collections-de-la-piscine.html }} Two painters commonly associated with the group are Arthur Van Hecke and Eugène Leroy.{{cite book |last1=Cordonnier |first1=Aude |last2=Jaubert |first2=Bruno |date=11 November 1998 |title=Arthur van Hecke: œuvres 1946–1998 |language=fr |location=Dunkirk, F |publisher=Dunkerque : Musée des Beaux-Arts |isbn=978-2-906363-11-3}}{{cite book |last1=Delporte |first1=Michel |last2=Gaudichon |first2=Bruno |last3=Vandierendonck |first3=René |date=20 December 1997 |title=Le Groupe de Roubaix: Le Nord Pas-de-Calais s'ouvre: l'art contemporain, 1946–1970 |series=Cahier du patrimoine roubaisien |volume=3 |language=fr |location=Roubaix, F |publisher=Musée d'art et d'industrie de Roubaix}}{{cite journal |last1=Verbeke |first1=Dirk |year=1989 |title=De Franse Nederlanden: actualiteiten |trans-title=The French Netherlands: News |url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_ons003198901_01/_ons003198901_01_0090.php |language=nl |journal=Ons Erfdeel |location=Raamsdonksveer, NL |version=Jaargang 32 |publisher=Stichting Ons Erfdeel |volume=Deel 2 |access-date=2016-03-17 |page=299 |quote=Leroy, Roulland en Van Hecke behoorden tot de 'Groep van Roubaix'.}}

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.The Cloakroom There are fifteen boutiques and fashion studios housed in an old industrial building.{{Cite web|url=http://www.maisonsdemode.com/en/presentation/|title=Présentation|website=Maisons de Mode|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-19}}

{{prose|section|date=July 2015}}

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

The city of Roubaix has a rich heritage in film production and been the filming location (mostly or partly) of the following productions:

• I Am a Soldier (French: Je suis un soldat), directed by Laurent Larivière in 2015{{cite web |url=http://www.lavenir.net/cnt/DMF20141112_00557718 |language=fr |title=Louise Bourgoin et Jean-Hugues Anglade tournent à Lessines |author=H.J. |editor-last=Dupiereux |editor-first=Thierry |date=13 November 2014 |website=L'info sur lavenir.net |publisher=Éditions de l'Avenir |location=Liège, B |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• My Golden Days (French: Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse), directed by Arnaud Desplechin in 2015{{cite journal |url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/roubaix-le-paradis-perdu-du-cineaste-arnaud-desplechin-ia24b58797n2340174 |language=fr |title=Roubaix, le "paradis perdu" du cinéaste Arnaud Desplechin |last=Lelièvre |first=Adrien |journal=La Voix du Nord |date=25 August 2014 |location=Roubaix, F |issn=0999-2189 |access-date=2015-07-12}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.nordeclair.fr/info-locale/roubaix-tourcoing-ces-5-films-qui-font-de-nos-villes-ia0b0n731905 |language=fr |title=Roubaix – Tourcoing: ces 5 films qui font de nos villes leur décor idéal |last=Le Bas |first=Christophe |date=12 May 2015 |journal=La Voix du Nord |location=Roubaix, F |issn=0999-2189 |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• Discount, directed by Louis-Julien Petit in 2014{{cite web |url=http://e-clap.fr/?p=3358 |language=fr |title="Discount" vu par son équipe |editor-last=Dulas |editor-first=Régis |date=January 2015 |website=e-clap.fr |publisher=E-clap, Amoureux de tous les cinemas |location=Hellemmes, F |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• Queens of the Ring (French: Les Reines du ring), directed by Jean-Marc Rudnicki in 2013{{cite web |url=http://cinemasdunord.blogspot.fr/2012/05/les-reines-du-ring-en-tournage-roubaix.html |language=fr |title=Les Reines du ring en tournage à Roubaix, Le Portel… |last=Joos |first=Olivier |date=15 May 2012 |website=cinemasdunord.blogspot.com |publisher= Olivier JOOS on Blogger |access-date=2015-07-12}}{{cite web |url=http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nord-pas-de-calais/2013/06/24/les-reines-du-ring-film-sur-le-catch-tourne-dans-le-nord-pas-de-calais-en-avant-premiere-ce-lundi-lomme-276273.html |language=fr |title="Les reines du ring", film sur le catch tourné dans le Nord Pas-de-Calais, en avant-première ce lundi à Lomme |last=Rousseaux |first=Céline |date=24 June 2013 |website=france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr |publisher=France Télévisions |location=Lille, F |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• Blue Is the Warmest Colour (French: La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche in 2013{{cite web|url=http://w.alllightsfilmmagazine.com/index.php/filmosphere/movies-more/news/628-blue-is-the-warmest-colour-coloured-with-palme-d-or-in-66th-festival-de-cannes |date=2013 |title='Blue Is the Warmest Colour' Coloured with Palme d'Or in 66th Festival De Cannes |editor-last=Nisha |editor-first=Joseph |magazine=All Lights Film Magazine |location=Dubai, UEA |access-date=2015-07-12 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |url=http://www.pictanovo.com//images/pdf/cp/cp_selection_cannes_17_04_13.pdf |last=Grenu |first=Leïla |editor-last=Leclercq |editor-first=Vincent |title=Un film tourné et coproduit en Nord–Pas de Calais en compétition officielle du Festival de Cannes ! |publisher=PICTANOVO |location=Tourcoing, F |date=18 April 2013 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924073100/http://www.pictanovo.com//images/pdf/cp/cp_selection_cannes_17_04_13.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}
• A Christmas Tale (French: Un conte de Noël), directed by Arnaud Desplechin in 2008{{cite web |url=http://ancetres-et-histoire.com/cinema_npdc.html |editor-last=Saint-Alban |editor-first=Clotilde |title=Le Nord-Pas-de-Calais et le cinéma |publisher=Ancêtres et Histoire |location=Prémesques, F |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• The Banishment (Russian: Изгнание, Izgnanie), directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev in 2007{{cite web |url=http://jig.ru/index4.php/2007/08/31/andrei-zvyagincev-pokoril-erevan.html |last=Агаронян |first=Армине |script-title=ru:Андрей Звягинцев покорил Ереван |trans-title=Andrey Zvyagintsev won Yerevan |publisher=Международная еврейская газета (МЕГ) – International Jewish Newspaper (IJN) |location=Moscow, RU |date=July 2009 |quote=…и кто-то посоветовал, городок Рубе на севере Франции. Это оказалось именно тем, что мы искали… |language=ru |access-date=2015-07-12}}{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488905/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt |title=Le bannissement (2007) Filming Locations |publisher=IMDb.com, Inc. |location=Seattle (Washington), USA |date=6 February 2008 |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• In His Hands (French: Entre ses mains), directed by Anne Fontaine in 2005
• The Axe (French: Le couperet), directed by Costa-Gavras in 2005{{cite web |url=http://amisdelapiscine.blogspot.fr/2009/01/le-rendez-vous-de-sraphine.html |language=fr |title=Le rendez-vous de Séraphine |date=18 January 2009 |website=amisdelapiscine.blogspot.fr |publisher= Les Amis de la Piscine on Blogger |access-date=2015-07-12}}{{cite web |url=http://moviespictures.org/movie/Le_couperet_2005 |title=Le couperet (2005) Movie |date=2014 |publisher=MoviePictures.ORG Movies Hollywood Free |location=Singapore, SG |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• Save Me (French: Sauve-Moi), directed by Christian Vincent in 2000{{cite web |url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-25638/secrets-tournage/ |title=Sauve-moi (Secrets de tournage) De l'écrit à l'image… |editor-last=Sardet |editor-first=Yoann |date=2000 |publisher=AlloCiné SA |location=Paris, F |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• Flat Land Cities (French: Les Cités de la plaine), directed by Robert Kramer in 1999{{cite web |url=https://www.humanite.fr/node/206400 |language=fr |title=Robert Kramer: " Je suis un homme aveuglé " |last=Jauffret |first=Magali |date=28 April 1999 |publisher=L'Humanité.fr |access-date=2015-07-11}}{{cite web |url=http://www.windwalk.net/afterlife/press/RKlemonde2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010303152508/http://www.windwalk.net/afterlife/press/RKlemonde2.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=3 March 2001 |title=An American in Roubaix |author=Le Monde |date=13 November 1999 |publisher=www.windwalk.net |access-date=2015-07-11}}
• The Dreamlife of Angels (French: La Vie rêvée des anges), directed by Erick Zonca in 1998{{cite web |url=http://www.lesinrocks.com/1998/09/16/cinema/actualite-cinema/erick-zonca-une-nouvelle-vie-11230709/ |language=fr |title=Erick Zonca – Une nouvelle vie |last1=Kaganski |first1=S. |last2=Bonn |first2=F. |date=16 September 1998 |publisher=Les Inrocks |access-date=2015-07-11}}{{cite book |last=O'Shaughnessy |first=Martin |title=The New Face of Political Cinema: Commitment in French Film since 1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijK0jorL2uEC |date=15 January 2008 |page=167 |publisher=Berghahn Books |location=Oxford (New York), USA |isbn=978-0-857-45690-8 |access-date=2015-07-11}}
• 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{{cite web |url=http://moviespictures.org/movie/Temporale_Rosy_1980 |title=Temporale Rosy (1980) Movie |date=2014 |publisher=MoviePictures.ORG Movies Hollywood Free |location=Singapore, SG |access-date=2015-07-12}}
• Swimming Instructor (French: Le Maître-nageur), directed by Jean-Louis Trintignant in 1979{{cite web |url=http://www.cinemotions.com/Le-Maitre-nageur-tt25023 |language=fr |title=Le Maître-nageur |editor-last=Deroy |editor-first=Pascal |date=1994 |publisher=CinEmotions.com |location=Wattignies, F |access-date=2015-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819143833/http://www.cinemotions.com/Le-Maitre-nageur-tt25023 |archive-date=19 August 2016}}
• 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{{cite web |url=http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Frenchblues/godard_part_ii__1968_1974___the_mao_years/ |title=Godard part II: 1968–1974 – The Mao years |website=Rate Your Music |publisher=Sonemic, Inc. |location=Seattle (Washington), USA |access-date=2015-07-12}}{{deprecated source|certain=y|date=November 2024}}

• 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{{cite book |last=Vandenbussche |first=Robert |date=2000 |title=1896–1996, Cent ans d'université Lilloise: actes du colloque organisé à Lille, les 6 et 7 décembre 1996 |trans-title=1896–1996, one hundred years of the University of Lille: proceedings of the symposium held on 6 and 7 November 1996 at Lille |series=Centre d'Histoire de l'Europe du Nord-Ouest |volume=18 |page=225 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIOfAAAAMAAJ |language=fr |location=Villeneuve d'Ascq, F |publisher=Université Charles-de-Gaulle – Lille III / CRHEN-O |isbn=978-2-905-63734-5 |access-date=2015-07-24}}

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

Roubaix has an old sporting heritage{{cite book |editor-last1=Jerome |editor-first1=Jerome Klapka |editor-last2=Pain |editor-first2=Barry |year=1899 |title=To-day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32ExAQAAMAAJ |volume=22 |page=215 |location=London, UK |publisher=W.A. Dunkerley |access-date=2015-07-28 |quote=The sport is very popular in the North of France, some fifty odd clubs existing in or near Roubaix, where a very large meeting was recently held.}} and is home to the finish 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.{{cite book |last1=Waret |first1=Philippe |last2=Popelier |first2=Jean-Pierre |date=1 July 2005 |editor-last=Sutton |editor-first=Alan |title=Roubaix: ville de sport |trans-title=Roubaix: a sporting city |series=Mémoire du sport |language=fr |location=Saint-Avertin, F |publisher=Éditions Alan Sutton |isbn=978-2-84910-155-1}}

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

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.{{cite book |last=Brévan |first=Claude |url=http://www.ville.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/urban-gb_cle5a71f3.pdf |title=The URBAN Community Initiative |publisher=Interministerial Delegation for Urban Affairs |location=Sainte-Denis, F |date=June 2002 |isbn=2-11-093-339-9 |page=57 |access-date=2015-06-30}}

Roubaix's high level of unemployment is a consequence of the deindustrialisation. The town is listed among France's poorest cities.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/14/france-election-marseille-lyon-lille |title=France: a divided nation goes to the polls |last=Hussey |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Hussey |date=14 April 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=2015-06-30}}

Successive local governments have tried to address difficulties associated with deindustrialisation by attracting new industries, making the most of the town's cultural credentials{{cite book |last=Kapferer |first=Jean-Noël |title=The New Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term |url=https://archive.org/details/newstrategicbran00kapf_067 |url-access=limited |date=3 January 2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newstrategicbran00kapf_067/page/n144 128] |publisher=Kogan Page |location=London, UK |isbn=978-0-749-45085-4}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c1d59836-fda7-11e8-aebf-99e208d3e521 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/c1d59836-fda7-11e8-aebf-99e208d3e521 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |title=Can France revive its industrial heartland? |last=Agnew |first=Harriet |date=13 December 2018 |newspaper=Financial Times |url-access=subscription}}

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

Mail order companies of international renown such as La Redoute,{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Michael Stephen |date=14 February 2006 |title=The Emergence of Modern Business Enterprise in France, 1800–1930 |series=Harvard studies in business history |volume=49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zs26hd5keYkC |location=Cambridge (Massachusetts), USA |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=489 |isbn=978-0-674-01939-3 |issn=0073-067X |access-date=2015-07-23 |quote=One of these was Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, a major retailing firm created by the merger of the Printemps-Prisunic department store chain and La Redoute, a leading mail-order house founded by a family of Roubaix wool spinners in the 1920s.}} Damart{{cite book |last=Baren |first=Maurice |date=16 September 1992 |title=How it all began: the stories behind those famous names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pQYyGf1_cYC |location=Leeds, UK |publisher=Smith Settle |page=31 |isbn=978-1-870-07192-5 |access-date=2015-07-23 |quote=In the French town of Roubaix in the 1950s, three brothers, members of the Despature family, had a weaving business manufacturing fine woollen cloths.}}{{cite book |last=Derdak |first=Thomas |editor-last=Grant |editor-first=Tina |year=2009 |title=International Directory of Company Histories |series=Gale virtual reference library |volume=98 |location=Farmington Hills (Michigan), USA |publisher=St. James Press |pages=85–87 |isbn=978-1-558-62619-5}} and 3 Suisses,{{cite book |last=Dubois |first=Guy |date=11 October 2012 |title=Le Nord Pas-de-Calais Pour les Nuls |series=Pour les Nuls Culture Générale |trans-title=Nord Pas-de-Calais for dummies |location=Paris, F |publisher=Éditions First & First Interactive |page=164 |language=fr |isbn=978-2-754-03547-7}}{{cite web |url=http://www.thierryprouvost.com/Vision-internationale-familles-du-Nord.html |title=Vision et génie international des "familles du Nord" et de Roubaix en particulier |last=Prouvost |first=Thierry |date=15 August 2008 |language=fr |access-date=2015-07-23 |quote=C'est en 1932, à Roubaix, que Xavier Toulemonde crée les Filatures des 3 Suisses, qui deviendront par la suite les 3 Suisses. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721102339/http://www.thierryprouvost.com/Vision-internationale-familles-du-Nord.html |archive-date=21 July 2015 }} 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.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

• 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/911395/ovh-com-lays-the-first-brick-of-its-future-north-american-data-centre-in-beauharnois |title=OVH.com lays the first brick of its future North American data centre in Beauharnois |date=26 January 2012 |website=CNW A PR Newswire Company |publisher=CNW Group Ltd. |access-date=2015-07-23}}
• Ankama Games has established its head office in Roubaix since 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.ankama.com/en/company/locals |title=From Textile Factory to Studio: The Story of Our Premises |date=2015 |publisher=Ankama Group |access-date=2015-07-13 |quote=In January of 2007, the deal was done and Ankama moved into 75 Boulevard d'Armentières in Roubaix. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713142200/http://www.ankama.com/en/company/locals |archive-date=13 July 2015}}
• Blanchemaille, an e-commerce cluster helped by the incubator EuraTechnologies, has been established in the former building of La Redoute in Roubaix since 2014.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

File:Lille Autouroutes.svg

File:Roubaix et Tourcoing.jpg

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.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s desindustrialisation dramatically influenced major urban landscapes across the arrondissement of Lille.{{cite web |url=http://infoterre.brgm.fr/rapports/RP-51582-FR.pdf |title=Inventaire d'anciens sites industriels sur l'arrondissement de Lille |trans-title=Inventory of old industrial sites on the arrondissement of Lille |author=BRGM |author-link=Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières |pages=27–28 |date=April 2002 |location=Lezennes, F |website=InfoTerre |publisher=BRGM}} 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.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

Roubaix has one of the most efficient biomass district heating plant in France{{cite web |url=http://www.cerdd.org/Parcours-thematiques/Changement-climatique/Initiatives-changement-climatique/Chauffage-urbain-au-bois-a-Roubaix |title=Chauffage urbain au bois à Roubaix |trans-title=Wood biomass district heating systems of Roubaix |language=fr |last=Hutchinson |first=Lucille |date=28 November 2016 |location=Loos-en-Gohelle, F |publisher=Centre Ressource du Développement Durable}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://zerowasteeurope.eu/downloads/case-study-8-the-story-of-roubaix/ |title=The story of Roubaix Case study 8 |last1=Chatel |first1=Laura |last2=Ferran |first2=Rosa |date=20 January 2018 |format=PDF |page=3 |publisher=Zero Waste Europe}}

• 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 (1930–2023): 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

• Wassim Aouachria (2000–): football player
• Ahmed Touba (1998–): football player
• Moussa Niakhaté (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
• Gonzague Olivier (1921–2013): 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

• 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
• Jean-Robert de Cavel (1961–2022): French-American chef de cuisine
• 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
• Charles Vanden Bosch (1883–1945): Belgian Roman Catholic Franciscan priest, founder 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.

• 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

• 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

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

{{reflist|group=note|2}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{See also|Timeline of Roubaix#Bibliography|l1=Bibliography of the history of Roubaix}}

{{Commons category|Roubaix}}

{{wiktionary|Roubaix}}

• [http://www.roubaixtourisme.com/ Tourist office website {{in lang|fr|en|nl}}]
• [http://www.roubaix-lapiscine.com/ Website of the museum of art and industry {{in lang|fr}}]
• [http://leblog2roubaix.com/ LeBlog2Roubaix.Com (videoblog and WebTv about Roubaix) {{in lang|fr}}]

{{European Metropolis Lille}}

{{Nord communes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Communes of Nord (French department)

Category:French Flanders