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France's urban areas: projects & developments
Since I've been a little tired of that traditional, political and economically ineffective Paris is the center of everything fact in France, I think a thread like this may be interesting while regionalism is slowly but gradually growing in the national institutions and culture.
To start off, these are the 50 largest urban areas in France, as defined by INSEE, so you guys can roughly grasp what this will be about even though iy's hardly readable. Rank (by population) | Urban area | Density (2010) (km²/sq mi) | Population (2011) 1 | Paris | 712 / 1844 | 12,292,895 2 | Lyon | 360 / 932 | 2,188,759 3 | Marseille-Aix-en-Provence | 541 / 1401 | 1,720,941 4 | Toulouse | 228 / 591 | 1,250,251 5 | Lille (French side of the border to Belgium) | 1253 / 3245 | 1,159,547 6 | Bordeaux | 201 / 521 | 1,140,668 7 | Nice | 387 / 1002 | 1,003,947 8 | Nantes | 264 / 684 | 884,275 9 | Strasbourg (French side of the border to Germany) | 346 / 896 | 764,013 10 | Rennes | 178 / 461 | 679,866 11 | Grenoble | 255 / 660 | 675,122 12 | Rouen | 276 / 715 | 655,013 13 | Toulon | 508 / 1316 | 606,987 14 | Montpellier | 328 / 850 | 561,326 15 | Douai-Lens | 801 / 2075 | 542,946 16 | Avignon | 246 / 637 | 515,123 17 | Saint-Étienne | 301 / 780 | 508,548 18 | Tours | 150 / 388 | 480,378 19 | Clermont-Ferrand | 191 / 495 | 467,178 20 | Nancy | 184 / 477 | 434,565 21 | Orléans | 135 / 350 | 421,047 22 | Caen | 220 / 570 | 401,208 23 | Angers | 169 / 438 | 400,428 24 | Metz | 242 / 627 | 389,529 25 | Dijon | 112 / 290 | 375,841 26 | Valenciennes (French side of the border to Belgium) | 574 / 1487 | 367,998 27 | Béthune | 415 / 1075 | 367,924 28 | Le Mans | 169 / 438 | 343,175 29 | Pointe-à-Pitre - Les Abymes | 281 / 728 | 316,599 30 | Reims | 132 / 342 | 315,480 31 | Brest | 315 / 816 | 314,239 32 | Perpignan | 308 / 798 | 305,546 33 | Amiens | 138 / 357 | 293,646 34 | Le Havre | 431 / 1116 | 291,579 35 | Genève-Annemasse (French side of the border to Switzerland) | 237 / 614 | 284,525 36 | Bayonne (French side of the border to Spain) | 225 / 583 | 283,571 37 | Limoges | 122 / 316 | 282,876 38 | Mulhouse | 553 / 1432 | 282,714 39 | Dunkerque | 328 / 850 | 257,887 40 | Nîmes | 324 / 839 | 256,205 41 | Poitiers | 109 / 282 | 254,051 42 | Besançon | 129 / 334 | 245,178 43 | Pau | 162 / 420 | 240,898 44 | Annecy | 283 / 733 | 219,470 45 | Chambéry | 266 / 689 | 216,528 46 | Lorient | 271 / 702 | 214,066 47 | Saint-Nazaire | 242 / 627 | 211,675 48 | La Rochelle | 202 / 523 | 205,822 49 | Saint-Denis (Réunion island) | 686 / 1777 | 197,883 50 | Troyes | 93 / 241 | 190,179 The Paris urban area is not even the most dense since it has sprawled so much. Two of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, the northernmost of the country neighboring Belgium are more dense, especially Lille whose average density leaves me in a wow. Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux have their own threads on here. This thread could widely focus on French cities whose population figures are less than a million, as my purpose here is to talk about what's happening in cities of minor importance on the global or even continental stages, still major to the national scale. Of course, Toulouse, Lille and Nice may be mentioned here as long as they don't have any thread. Oh well, just feel free to post anything related to any French city including Paris here if you will, this thread will just be convenient for me to bring some news about cities ranked from 4 to 50 from time to time, except for those very few with their own threads on the site. Besides, I'm doing it for France cause it's obviously by far what I know the most about, so it's easier for me to post about that in particular. But then it'd be great if something similar was done for every Euro country in this subforum, at least when it's relevant like for France itself. |
Orléans
Here's a master plan they call Interives in Orléans, stretching over 110ha (~270 acres) of urban wasteland.
http://aaupc.fr/content/projets/URBA...19872761_0.jpg The affected area from above, along some rail tracks at the northern edge of the city, I believe. http://aaupc.fr/content/projets/URBA...19873077_0.jpg There used to be some (likely cheap) housing built in the 1960s. That's what the master plan is to replace. http://aaupc.fr/content/projets/URBA...19873187_0.jpg http://aaupc.fr/projets/fiche/id/146 For now, some 3000 new residential units are planned, and 350,000m² (3.5+ mi sq ft) of offices, hotels and commercial space. Some urban cable cars are supposed to allow the crossing of the rail tracks. This will be the main master plan and development opportunity to work on in Orléans for the coming decade. |
Strasbourg
A master plan they call Danube will include a little cluster of tall midrises (or small highrises, whatever) within the new neighborhood.
http://www.rue89strasbourg.com/wp-co...ur_elithis.jpg The black cluster in the background is nicknamed 3 Black Swans. http://media.strasbourg.eu/alfresco/...ns-malraux.jpg It's fairly mixed-use. 180 condos, 8000m² of offices, a 5000m² hotel and 2000m² of retail. The remaining tower in the foreground is called Elithis, residential. http://s-www.dna.fr/images/C7A48267-...ur-elithis.jpg The Danube master plan as a whole, however, seems quite larger. These are just the tallest projects planned over the area so far. |
That Orleans plan is looking really nice, though I'd up the density of it if it were up to me. Maybe add a couple of floors to everything. But that's me, used to all plans being too low density to create functional urbanity (stop doing that Stockholm!).
Where in Strassbourg is the new district planned for? |
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The Orléans renderings are just master plan renderings, nothing more accurate so far. Architects (from all over the world, I guess) will be competing to have their own dear achievement there. I didn't even bother to watch at the Strasbourg master plan any closer, because Strasbourg is far better off anyway, and neighboring holy saint Germany. ;) What you see on their renderings is more accurate, and is likely to look cool for real. I'll bring some more later, I promise. Including Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Mediterranean France. There's some stuff happening all over that hellish country somehow. It will be for whoever likes it, wherever you may be, whatever you may feel like. It doesn't matter where you are, basically. I swear. |
Nice
Largest city on the Côte d'Azur, what the English-speaking nickname the Riviera. There's a crazy large plan they call Éco-Vallée, registered as an OIN (opération d'intérêt national, national interest plan), which means the national administration, thus all taxpayers of the country will be involved in supporting and funding the related public projects and infrastructures to some extent. Lucky locals will pay the most for it anyway, and I think it's quite some smart investment given the fame of that coastline as a whole, which makes a highly strategic city of Nice from my perspective.
So Éco-Vallée spreads over some 100km² (38 sq mi). Here's the affected area. http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...rritoire_2.jpg It stretches along the Var river down to the coastline. Again, that is madly large, encompassing several suburban towns as seen on that map. A real long-run plan that is supposed to keep the metro area busy for at least the 3 decades to come. It is centered on eco-friendly and sustainable development, apparently making an obsession for it. It aims both at restoring and promoting the natural setting of the area that's been a little messed up, probably mainly by sloppy post-war development, and at comforting the economy and the vibrancy of the metro area. This is what the Éco-Vallée area looks like for now. A too wide panorama of it: http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...uche-light.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...images/oin.png Includes some traditional Mediterranean villages like these. http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/..._gattieres.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...e_sur_site.jpg Implementation has slightly begun yet. Of course, owing to the scale of this whole thing, it will be divided in several sub-master plans over the course of development that will be gradual. These are the current priorities. http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...sud_coupee.jpg Grand Arénas is an international business district to help the city in taking its place in the global competition, located on the edge of the city of Nice proper and nearby the international airport. It will be developed around a large exhibition and convention facility and a multimodal transit hub (pôle multimodal on the sketch) that will serve both the district and the airport. Although focusing on business, it is planned to be widely mixed-use and socially diverse, providing all kinds of housing (from affordable to better standing), hotels and commercial activities. Obviously, they will not repeat the post-war mistake of a fully purpose-built business district experienced in Paris with the district of la Défense. They've got these approximate master plan renderings and mockups that seem rather meaningless to me. http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...e_nord_sud.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...aquette_ga.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...ages/ga2_0.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...ages/ga4_0.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...vueouest_1.jpg They only let us see that the district will be built around the transit hub indeed, but we'll have to wait for the renderings of each individual approved project to understand more accurately what's going on. The transit hub includes high-speed and regular trains to Paris, Marseille and Italy, a urban and interurban bus station, a straight connection to historic Nice through the tram, some parking spaces for bikes and ecars... Access from the airport is outright immediate. Hopefully parking spaces will be hidden underground like shameful things you don't want to see. In fact, Éco-Vallée as a whole plans a wide extension of the transit network. On the sketch is mentioned the 2nd priority master plan, Nice Méridia, still on the edge of Nice proper (see the 1st map above). It is completely mixed-use as well, aiming at attracting businesses and R&D specialized in sustainable development and healthcare in particular. http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...0720_light.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...pa_light_1.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...cies_light.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/..._epa_light.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/..._epa_light.jpg http://www.ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr/...rsassocies.jpg These give an idea of the envisioned urban feel, but do not expect any highrise anywhere in there for now. The tallest approved project I heard of so far is a 17-storey mixed-use building in Méridia. In addition, 2 more master plans have officially been defined, but nothing accurate for now. One in Saint-Martin 20km north of Nice proper (see the 1st map above), another focusing on food industry and horticulture over la Gaude and Saint-Laurent. Again, all of this has been planned just for the last couple of years and is only beginning. We'll be following the developement. The Côte d'Azur is some of the biggest concentration of money in the country, so I assume we'll see some cool things happening there. I took all pictures from the website of the official public body in charge of Éco-Vallée, l'établissement public d'aménagement de la Plaine du Var, assuming they won't mind about the hotlinking, since we're talking about their business here. |
Montpellier
One of the fastest growing towns in the country if I recall correctly, still on the Med coast but further west going toward Spain from Nice and Marseille, here's the weirdest thing of that tall midrise/small highrise trend taking over France.
Ladies and gents, cheer L'Arbre Blanc (the white tree)... http://referentiel.nouvelobs.com/file/7046016.jpg If you dislike balconies, that will be laughing at you cause they will build that thing for real. http://referentiel.nouvelobs.com/file/7046010.jpg It's 18-story, 56m (184 ft) tall and will join a couple of buildings of that scale in the Montpellier skyline. http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/...pse1c32d5d.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/688402high.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/359449pdm.jpg So, I'm not going to pretend enjoying the design which several architect firms are guilty of (namely Sou Fujimoto Architects, Nicolas Laisne Associés, Manal Rachdi OXO Architects), but the contents of the program themselves are interesting for mixed-use. 120 condos, some offices, a restaurant and an art gallery on the ground floor, a café offering a panoramic view at the top one. The sale of the condos would start as of late february. The building has a website if you're interested: http://arbreblancmontpellier.com/ Thx to Chrispic who let me know. |
The fourth fastest growing large metropolitan area in France.
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Nantes
There's some pretty big development locally on the Atlantic coast, thank God. A cousin of mine had to move over there cause his wife is a local of Nantes and couldn't stand Paris. :haha::rolleyes: Crap, I'm barely astonished when I think about it...
The most striking is the redevelopment of a district they call Malakoff/Pré-Gauchet. It's large, includes a bunch of older residential towers from the late 60s/early 70s that were renovated before the whole new projects started up. Some pictures to show. http://zupimages.net/up/14/46/nhq4.jpg http://zupimages.net/up/14/46/yt56.jpg http://zupimages.net/up/14/46/1y80.jpg http://zupimages.net/up/14/46/6l6b.jpg These are from Nov 2014, the most recent on SSC from lebrig. There's a lot of things like this going on like you get lost if you're not a diligent local. I kinda sense a future place to be right there. https://scontent-b-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/...25834834_o.jpg That one is from our very French-speaking forum. Lots of new programs scheduled around there that should draw a pretty cool skyline and a nice vibe right on the spot. Nantes is one of our fastest growing indeed. |
That's the fifth fastest growing large metropolitan area in France, it is right after Montpellier.
Population growth rate in 2011: - Toulouse metro area: +1.64% - Rennes metro area: +1.56% - Bordeaux metro area: +1.56% - Montpellier metro area: +1.54% - Nantes metro area: +1.52% |
Nantes (2)
Ah, here's a summery of the development over there. Thx a lot to Maxou from SSC for having compiled these, I was expecting something like this.
1 - A mixed-use program that includes 135 condos and some offices and retail at the 3 lower floors. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/28...6468Ilot1C.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/255739P1D2718586G.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/846784B01.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/534855salon.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/81...onmaquette.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/133344bat.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/787488vue.jpg Terraces at the top of each column would be part of the commonly owned room, open to all dwellers of the building. Construction has barely begun. 2 - A mixed-use complex currently under construction. There are a student facility and some student housing, 261 apartments (both market-rate condos and social housing), some offices and some retail. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/911173zesh.png This is it lot by lot. 67 condos. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/475900image1.jpg Social housing. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/743171image2.jpg Student facility. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/62...cp03copier.jpg 70 condos and some offices. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/33...cp04copier.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/618148image3.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/545717xflf.png http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/734005016m.png Student housing and retail. http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/51...ettecopier.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/539170image4.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/690730obci.png 3 - A mixed-use, mainly residential complex with some retail at 1st floors. There would be some 72 condos in there. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/617229Vg1.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/13...0415221952.png http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/93...e1920x1080.jpg Some pics of the implementation. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/46...03c7778eec.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/55...25d1dec6o2.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/11...ntesjdb029.jpg 4 - 84 condos in the taller building, offices and retail in the shorter 7-story bar along the boulevard. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/176977Ilot2D11.jpg Construction site. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/261188MG04041.jpg The residential building offers an elevator with a panoramic view. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/77...ae378687bc.jpg And some balconies cause it seems the French often like that little outdoor feel. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/84...dfa132bbcc.jpg 5 - Still under construction, a 3-building complex of 87 condos and some retail along the Loire river. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/88...eincrust01.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/44...ont02final.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/89...generale01.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/68...ieurMaison.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/43...terieurR12.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/97...terieurR14.jpg Alright, that's precisely the kind of things I appreciate. It's all within or around that same modern/contemporary district I mentioned in the previous Nantes post. That overall area is meant to be both entirely mixed-use and provided with some social housing to remain open to lower incomes. I think you guys will be interested to see. Of course I hope they eventually plan some real taller buildings. That bunch of 50+m tall structures is already big enough to nicely embed some actual highrises. Thx to Maxou from Nantes again. |
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Metropolitan area as calculated by the INSEE are called "Aire Urbaine" in France. "Aire Urbaine" are not "Urban Area" (a continuous urbanized area) but a area calculated through commuting patterns (metropolitan area). In Wikipedia, they mistranslated using only a literal translation instead of a translation of the concept. I fought against a guy of Wikipedia about this and to make him admit his mistake but he refuses. :koko: |
^ Your point is definitely relevant, and Wiki is always a questionable source of information anyway. That said, those various definitions of urban or metro areas have been confusing to non-experts, especially when there's apparently no international standard in that respect yet. So I guess they still depend on local cultural traits.
I'll take INSEE as our major reliable reference as most seem to do. |
So France is (unfortunately) no federal system yet. I guess the French are just too immature, vicious and quarrelsome like a bunch of spoiled kids in middle school for such advanced systems, so it's been centralized on the Paris region for ages to keep everyone quiet.
However, "décentralisation" has been a highly fashionable term in national politics for a couple of decades. A decentralization process is indeed underway and has nowhere to go but forward. I'm pretty excited at this trend that might also eventually help clarify up to the EU system of governance, which is seen for now as a massive and motionless technocracy impossible to understand. No doubt France is widely responsible for that. However, so far and from my point of view, decentralization at France's level has been causing a major painful issue, since it's been mainly consisting in adding new administrations to the older ones, which makes the overall system even more costly, more complicated and less effective. To my knowledge, we've got now these 5 levels of governance, from the widest to the most local.
The 5 overseas regions and the municipality of Paris are also départements. Now let us see about the count of municipalities in a few comparable countries...
From the president of the Republic to the countless municipal councillors, there are 628,000 elected politicians in France (only 24,000 in the UK while their population is roughly the same as ours). You know what that means? Far too many millions of public employees that come along. That's how the public administrations in France are widely seen as an awful mess of inefficiency and a crushing burden that the French taxpayers and private sector have to bear. It will take decades to make that thing more simple and effective. The current government brought a tiny little bit of the slight beginning of a very shy answer of theirs: merging regions of the metropolitan territory. Thus far, France's region map looks like those 22 current regions of Metropolitan France. http://www.france-pub.com/maps/regions-towns-800-1.jpg As of jan 01 2016, there'll be only 13 left. http://www.france-pub.com/maps/regions-towns-800-13.jpg Those maps come from france-pub.com. That looks like centralizing from decentralizing if you ask me. And you may appreciate the remarkable convenience of some new names, such as "Aquitaine Limousin Poitou-Charentes," or "Alsace Champagne-Ardenne Lorraine..." Um, did I forget any hyphen anywhere in there, by any accident? I would've rather enforced the countless necessary mergings of municipalities -- e.g. most intercommunalités could become new communes, and lower level communes would merely be erased -- and the obliteration of the useless départements. Anyway, that's still better than doing nothing, I assume. |
Your second map is wrong. Pays-de-la-Loire will not be merged with Centre.
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^ Right. Perhaps that's why they're talking about 13 regions while the map is showing only 12.
I suspect Pays-de-la-Loire + Bretagne and Île-de-France + Centre would have made sense to some extent, but then both resulting regions might have been too big and disturbing to the French peculiar understanding of balance. From what I heard, only 2 of these consolidations are really warmly welcome. Lower + Upper Normandies and Bourgogne + Franche-Comté for historic, cultural and synergy reasons. I'm not even sure Nord-Pas-de-Calais + Picardie or Auvergne + Rhône-Alpes would be anything obvious, but they seem ok. The rest of these mergings feels a little odd to me. :haha: Bah, probably just a matter of habits. |
Speaking of which, I'm curious to see resulting regional populations.
So I'll do it here as fast as I can by following the latest INSEE data (2012)... Sorted descending. Île-de-France (Paris region) => 11,898,502 Auvergne (1,354,104) + Rhône-Alpes (6,341,160) => 7,695,264 Nord-Pas-de-Calais (4,050,756) + Picardie (1,922,342) => 5,973,098 Aquitaine (3,285,970) + Limousin (738,633) + Poitou-Charentes (1,783,991) => 5,808,594 Languedoc-Roussillon (2,700,266) + Midi-Pyrénées (2,926,592) => 5,626,858 Alsace (1,859,869) + Lorraine (2,349,816) + Champagne-Ardenne (1,339,270) => 5,548,955 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur => 4,935,576 Basse-Normandie (1,477,209) + Haute-Normandie (1,845,547) => 3,322,756 Pays de la Loire => 3,632,614 Bretagne => 3,237,097 Bourgogne (1,641,130) + Franche-Comté (1,175,684) => 2,816,814 Centre(-Val de Loire) => 2,563,586 Réunion (overseas region) => 833,944 Guadeloupe (overseas region) => 403,314 Martinique (overseas region) => 388,364 Corse => 316,257 Guyane (overseas region) => 239,648 Mayotte (overseas region) => 212,645 |
Strasbourg
3 Black Swans (post #3 above) going up on the district of Presqu'Île Malraux.
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...15h54-720p.jpg Picture by RoccatArvo on SSC. Sold out. Here's something else over the district of the European parliament. http://www.cogedim-logement.com/site...entation_1.jpg http://www.cogedim-logement.com/site...entation_2.jpg http://www.cogedim-logement.com/site...entation_3.jpg http://www.cogedim-logement.com/site...entation_4.jpg http://www.cogedim-logement.com/site...entation_5.jpg http://www.cogedim-logement.com/prog...ace-67000.html We'll never thank the Dutch designers enough for having pioneering that fashion of asymmetric patterns. It's been hugely successful, taking modern façades to a much better level. Many from Strasbourg would hate me for saying, but I don't think the Euro representatives need to leave Brussels to frequently move over there, it's some waste of taxpayer money. And the city doesn't need them to thrive anyway. |
I'm excited at mainland France's regional consolidations.
http://www.cartesfrance.fr/cartes/ge...te-regions.jpg http://www.cartesfrance.fr/ Most are now sizable enough to be significant in a prospective European federal system. Somehow, it has to be a good reform. I just saw from watching the news, people will very soon be voting for the new designations of the regions whose current names are too long to be convenient. Of course locals themselves will keep on making a little difference between former administrative regions for some time yet, like Alsace and Lorraine will still make some fun of one another, but I think outsiders will quickly forget. As I said already, I think there are 2 upgrades left to be done. Brittany + Pays de la Loire for sure, that could be named Greater Brittany. And possibly Centre-Val-de-Loire + Île-de-France, if people from the former don't deny the Parisians. Lol |
Hauts-de-France. Something like Upper France. That's the new name of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, the first to earn her new official name. It was passed by the regional council yesterday.
It seems many in the country are laughing at it - too many in France have had difficulties to acknowledge the need for change, unfortunately - and even locals of the region don't seem satisfied, especially those from former Picardie. They say they're losing their local historic identity. Nonsense. It will survive within the larger administrative body anyway. The decision for this new administrative division was made by the national government in Paris. I guess the European Commission itself in Brussels could have passed a reform of this kind. That's what people don't like, especially the conservatives here. The fact that it came from the central government and was enforced without really consulting the people. But here's my personal point. The reform was passed anyhow, no matter how we like it or not. So now we all must take it as something positive. I think regional councils will eventually be stronger from these mergings, that's precisely the good point to definitely help us finally push decentralization further. People are funny here sometimes. They want more local powers for themselves, but then complain whenever anything is done in favor of regional prerogatives. The former regions were too small. That's it. Now we have them quite larger, so they might be able to achieve bigger things on their own. Regarding the name itself, meh, I'm a little disappointed myself. It's kind of random and raises the question to know what France is. Huge question, hard to answer. I think France originally meant something like "land of the Franks", but the Franks came down from what is now the Netherlands and from some neighboring areas of current Germany some 1500 years ago. So one may deduce there are even some other kinds of "France" north of the region now called Hauts-de-France... Lol, I dunno. Whatever, we'll get used to the new name. When all new names are chosen, I'll let you guys know. I find it funny and exciting, just like some new bigger toys or something. |
Alsace-Lorraine-Champagne-Ardenne is now "Grand Est", Greater East. But east of what? Berlin? Warsaw? Once more complaining, I find these new names short-sighted and silly for bound to national borders as if Paris was a center of the universe or something. Would there be an aggressive ballsy European policy, they could've called it something sexier like Austrasie, that sounds much cooler. Doesn't it?
Oh well, I guess we'll have to change these names again sometime. So Lille is now the capital of "Hauts-de-France". Lol, not used to it yet. Some over there are kidding hard with puns like "les eaux de France". :haha: Aaaahïaïaïe... Whatever, it is now the main urban center of a region of 6 million and they're planning something fairly big for the new seat of their metropolitan council. http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...406a134755.png http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...406a134941.png http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...406a134831.png http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...406a134812.png http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...406a134926.png This will sit nearby the Euralille district to expand the embryonic high-rise cluster. I'll be honest, don't quite fancy the mayor of Lille who's a complete prick, but of course she'd be happy at this public thing for her dear administration, supporting it. Work is supposed to begin as of 2019. It seems they already have an idea of a funding plan, but then it will cost more than expected at first anyway, as always. |
To bring this story to an end, here's the new map of the country.
http://i.f1g.fr/media/figaro/630x630...a3-630x630.jpg http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/201...de-regions.php This is France, so people will grumble till they get used to it and forget what was before. Now the actual hard work is to push decentralization further. Obviously, in other words, the French people must find some convenient deals to make their national government give up on the many powers centralized over the Paris region (Île-de-France on that map) and get the regional administrations more independent and powerful. That is no easy business at all here. |
Nantes (3)
Some updates of what was introduced previously, a couple of posts above.
By MaxouDeNantes to the French-speaking sub-forums of SSC. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/76...de78b9107c.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/72...450755b76c.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/14...148ec7398c.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/53...40ebd09aec.jpg http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/98...rededroits.jpg A bunch of pictures of this last one there: http://www.a-lta.fr/wp-content/uploa...mensionner.jpg http://www.a-lta.fr/wp-content/uploa...mensionner.jpg http://www.a-lta.fr/wp-content/uploa...mensionner.jpg :cool: Mad respect and thanks a lot to Maxou. Effectiveness here. I like it a lot. You see, they're building a bunch of 50m-tall buildings, 15 to 20-floor structures over the area thus turning into a fine example of mixed-use contemporary fabric. Here's an advertising video that was released over 6 months ago yet, for the fun of it. Now that's how to redevelop a post-war district that was all bland, definitely lacking social diversity and kind of desperate. It's going to gentrify as something turning into some new hot spot, but remains open to lower incomes by some social housing at the same time, so unhealthy social ghettos are now avoided. Some narrow-minded complain about the prospective cost of the social housing policy that's not market-friendly, but the most important is by far to spread social diversity IMHO. And there's still plenty of room for the regular market-rate stuff anyway. |
Strasbourg
3 Black Swans still U/C.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...ea1edcdddc.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...ad62ebfae2.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...16490a602a.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...f05baf66a9.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9c5605010d.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...42329f8511.jpg Pics by Alsa67, Fr-speaking subforum of SSC. |
Region of Grand Est
I'm a little astonished by the relatively large scale of this project in Huningue, a French suburb of Basel, Switzerland that I'd simply never heard of before.
Municipal population is of 7000. http://www.businessimmo.com/system/d.../cam-07jpg.jpg http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...1488297582.jpg http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...1488297043.jpg http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...1488297043.jpg Huningue lies on the Rhine river right on the spot where France, Switzerland and Germany meet. So they call it an international location, although I assume neither the Swiss nor the Germans feel so international locally. This is just regular daily Europe. Anyway, they expect all of this to be completed by 2022. It appears perfectly mixed-use, including offices, a 4-star business hotel, some 300 condos in all and retail at street level, for a €90 million investment. This is meant to further develop transit on the river, most likely for goods in particular. Huningue's population is expected to grow by 10% in a couple of years from this project alone. |
Strasbourg
Updates of 3 Black Swans and Elithis Danube by fool.
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/817405DSCF7727.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/546088DSCF7717.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/917774DSCF7745.jpg One of the swans closer to completion. http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/261944DSCF7743.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/860711DSCF7603.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/615236DSCF7711.jpg http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/660600DSCF7735.jpg Still waiting for the red/black one to bring a touch of warm colors, but materials developed over that site are looking neat already. |
Wish there was more high-rise construction news to bring on here, but at least, transportation development is still doing pretty good over the country.
Most noticeably, Nice recently started construction of their new tram lines. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...e_2013.svg.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_t...ned_extensions Except the yellow line, I believe everything dotted is U/C. Although I'm not sure because this is so large and I'm getting lost. It's all related to the huge (partly nationally funded) master plan of post #6, which seems gigantic and confusing to me. Nice is merely quadrupling the size of their tram network. On a different but related note, their new lines will be the very first to feature Alstom Transport's new tech to avoid the use of catenaries. They call it "ground-based electric charging". I assume it was more or less inspired by Bombardier's Primove system. Prior to these things, we had "ground-level power supply", some method based on some sort of so called 3rd rail, like those of Bordeaux and Dubai, but these latest gadgets appear more flexible and less expensive. I think all this stuff to avoid overhead power lines is actually significant, as I was a bit shocked by pictures of the streets of Milan's old downtown messed up by wires. I incidentally read that an Italian corporation was developing their own system to get over those invasive wires. So several options are now available, and the same technologies can apply to buses. In short, tram manufacturing is more lively than ever. |
Short travel film of Tourists discovering Paris :)
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^ That's why I like foreign people coming over here so much. They are fond of or amazed by what seemed gigantic to me as a little kid when I walked the streets with my mom holding my hand so carefully...
Don't move! Stay here! Don't cross the street by yourself or I'll spank you silly!! Don't walk too far away! You'd get lost and cry after me again! How many times do local little kids get scolded like this through their childhoods..? Didn't count but it has to be well in the hundreds. Central Paris belongs to them tourists. That's my gift to them cause they're so gentle. Now locals like myself have other duties. Namely working in/on the suburbs to enlarge it all. |
Oh wow, Elithis Danube designed by XTU Architects in Strasbourg is supposed to produce more power than it needs.
http://nsm07.casimages.com/img/2017/...8015290338.jpg http://nsm07.casimages.com/img/2017/...8015290339.jpg http://nsm07.casimages.com/img/2017/...8015290346.jpg http://nsm07.casimages.com/img/2017/...8015290340.jpg http://nsm07.casimages.com/img/2017/...8015290342.jpg http://nsm07.casimages.com/img/2017/...8015290335.jpg Credit to 3locations. Thanks to solar panels all over the façade. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKva_2oW0AAWT7c.jpg Each rental unit in there is provided with some gear to warn tenants about wrong power use (e.g. heating while windows are open). https://img.20mn.fr/fZ6JLrtET4aWPN5FOEcY0A/648x415 The landlord also plans to reward tenants whose power consumption statistics are good enough. Article in Fr: http://www.20minutes.fr/strasbourg/2...ergie-positive |
Looks great, but is it really that simple? then why do you need so many nuclear power plants?
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^ Heavy lobbying. The nuclear industry stands for tens of thousands of jobs and some big oldish engineering tradition over the country. It's true that France has been dangerously addicted to this crap, just like some others to oil or coal.
Fact is you simply can't give up on an entire sector of the national industry overnight, just like that. Especially when it's an essential strategic business such as power supply for the entire nation, and when technologies to produce renewable energy are not quite effective enough to replace it all yet. However, the transition got started, as shown by this type of projects. I think some large corporations of the sector like EDF, Areva and Total SA are now working on it. First because they have to if they want to survive and sustain their businesses in the future. Second, because they're more and more under the pressure of political environmentalism that's growing bigger and bigger locally. |
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