Ecocities & Sustainable City Demonstrators

State support for urban innovation

2021

Supported from 2010 to 2020 by the City of Tomorrow future investment programme, the EcoCities approach was aimed at cities, large conurbations and public planning establishments, in partnership with the private sector. Its aim was to promote a sustainable and comprehensive urban strategy, implemented through integrated urban projects. EcoCité projects are now a French benchmark for urban innovation. Most of the innovations are currently being evaluated. Others are still being implemented.

To download : diagonal_no_200_dossier_entier_cle7abd74.pdf (1.3 MiB)

Urban innovation initiatives

The France 2030 Sustainable City Demonstrator Programme is a continuation of the EcoCité approach and the City of Tomorrow PIA (PIA 1&2), based on its experience feedback, emphasising the evaluation and replication strategy and offering an incubation period of up to 36 months. The Sustainable City Demonstrator programme is supported by France 2030’s Sustainable City and Innovative Buildings Strategy, which is based on the Living in the France of Tomorrow approach.

ÉcoCité is a Grenelle de l’Environnement initiative designed to help build the city of tomorrow. It is part of a series of initiatives supported by the French government: EcoQuartier, Industrial Demonstrators for Sustainable Cities, Positive Energy Territories for Green Growth, Territorial Workshops, Zero Waste Zero Waste, the PIA Sustainable and Inclusive Cities and ANRU+ (….) and now the France 2030 Sustainable City Demonstrators.

Ecocities: laboratories for sustainable cities

For the State, which supports projects led by public and private players, the challenge is to encourage the creation of a sustainable city that enhances its attractiveness, while meeting the needs of the local population. With this in mind, projects are taking shape at different scales and are part of a change of vision.

They reflect a shared ambition to give substance to the ecological transition, by transforming the city and its uses. New urban and landscape aesthetics are taking shape, residents are becoming involved in their living environment, and technical innovations are changing practices…

Diagonal magazine devotes a 30-page dossier to Ecocities, focusing on the examples of Bordeaux, Greater Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille and Alzette Belval, which illustrate the thematic diversity of the areas covered by this approach.

Living in the France of tomorrow, a useful event for regional transition

« Habiter la France de demain » (Living in the France of Tomorrow) is an initiative launched in February 2021 to expand and support virtuous projects and promote new solutions in response to the challenges of tomorrow’s cities and regions, focusing on 4 challenges: sobriety, resilience, inclusion and value creation.

Sources

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