Roubaix

Roubaix is a city in northern France, in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. A historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, it grew rapidly in the nineteenth century on its textile industries, sharing many characteristics with English and American boom towns, and has faced urban decay and related economic and social challenges since its major industries declined by the mid-1970s. It is the chef-lieu of two cantons and the fourth-largest city in the Hauts-de-France region by population, with about 98,000 inhabitants.