INTA has been invited by the City of Vaulx-en-Velin in the agglomeration of Lyon, France, to review the relation between the center and the periphery, 20 years after a previous INTA panel.

Which results 20 years after a first INTA Panel in Vaulx-en-Velin on restructuring the City centre?

Which centrality to envisage for the next 20 years when the City is confronted with a series of new challenges: a newly created polarity in the south, a major urban renewal project in the north, a need to improve the connections between the various neighbourhoods, a position to ascertain in the agglomeration of Grand Lyon, plus continuing social, economic and environmental problems? 

The Panel opened a new line of reflection on the future development of the City centre, to make it a vibrant pole able to balance the new commercial development around the “Carré de Soie”, to be an attractive functional place complementing the other districts of the city, and to provide the agglomeration with a coherent space for economic development and social cohesion.

The panel addressed a series of questions:

1. What has been done in terms of project and policy stemming from the 1989 and 1993 recommendations?
2. What is the appropriate scale for the City centre? Could culture, utilities foster local development? Which new central public spaces to envisage: making the University campus the city centre? What kind of popular habitat to built in the core centre?
3. Complementarities or competition between the sub poles? How to integrate these sub polarities into a coherent city? Does “Carré de Soie” represent a threat or an opportunity for improving the city image? How to keep the popular identity of the town?
4. How to improve the relations between the distinct neighbourhoods and the city centre? How to create a “green and blue image” making use of the canal and the greenway linking the different parts of the town?
5. Which relations with the rest of the agglomeration and the metropolitan area? Which structural programme and utilities can create a strong pole in Vaulx-en-Velin raising its positioning within the agglomeration?
6. Local governance and partnerships: how to improve the local governance and the partnerships with all other local actors in particular at the metropolitan area?
   

The INTA panel was composed by 10 international experts (France, Belgium, Morocco, Colombia, Spain, Great Britain,) and 5 local experts. It was held from 7th to 12th June. Technical visits, interviews with local actors and working groups were part of the program to end with a presentation of the panel’s recommendations.

Who are the panelists ?

The panel day by day