EURALILLE: Centre International d’AffairesLille, France

Learning from theReconciliation Process of Large-scale Urban Infrastructureand Transportation Hub

Lille, a formerly significant city, was leading a slightly melancholy existence. Once amining and textile town, it had fallen into hard times. But the tunnel between Englandand the continent and the TGV network will transform Lille as if by magic and make itimportant in a completely synthetic way.

Rem Koolhaas, SMLXL, 1995

Hypothesis

The French governmentimplemented the concept of sociétéd ’aménagement d ’économie mixtewhere private company with a publicprivate ownership is being used forurban development projects such asLille.

Public Capitals:51%Private Financial Investors:49%

Public Privilege:Expropriation and Subventions of anyNew Urban Development Proposals.

How to Master Plan Such aSuccessful Urban Design System?The French Way of Urban Planning

Euralille: First and second phase development mediating the city.

How Does Lille Work?

1. Transforming a former industrial cityas a new business center for WestEurope.

2. Intersection of major north-south andeast-west axes.

3. Reduced traveling times through trainand tunnel combined.

4. Center of gravity for the virtualcommunity of 50 million WesternEuropeans.

Yellow Line: TGV trajectory cutting through the Lille development masterplan.

Hypothetically, anyone from London, Paris, or Brussels are actually ‘in’ Lille becausethe traveling distance form Lille – London would be faster than Kent – London, andis also closer to the city of London than traveling between London and some otherparts of greater London itself. It is also much cheaper to set up a business hub inLille than in London or Paris. By having Lille, Europe is being shrunken in terms oftraveling time.

Minimizing the Importance of Distance Between Places

1990 2000 2020

‘Shrinking Europe’: reducing traveling time across the European continent.

What is important about Lille is not where it is, but where it leads, and how quickly.

Why Lille Became Successful?

70 mins from London

50 mins from Paris

18 mins from Brussels

Master Plan

Phasing plans for an efficient master plan development process.

Master Plan

Lille’s Programmatic Distribution

1. Station

Eurostar Line (TGV): London-Paris-Brusselsand other major centers in France such asMarseille, Lyon, Toulouse

Program: (1) Gare de Lille-Europe: Eurostar/international and high speed trains and (2)Gare de Lille-Flandres: lower speed trains andother domestic destinations

Station - Jean-Marie Duthilleul; Office Tower - Christian de Portzamparc

Lille’s Programmatic Distribution

2. Shopping Centers

Program: 1 hypermarket (10, 000 sqm.) + 120 shopsTurnover: 214 million Euro/yearVisitors: 14,000/year

Commercial Center - Jean Nouvel

Lille’s Programmatic Distribution

3. Lille Grand Palais (Congrexpo)

Program: 18,000 sqm. exposition arena with 5000 seatswith 3 congress hall and meeting roomsTurnover: 9 million Euro/yearVisitors: 1 million/year

Congrexpo - Rem Koolhaas/ OMA

Lille’s Programmatic Distribution

4. Rock Music Concert Hall

Program: 1 hall with 400 seats and 1 hall with 1500 seats

5. Offices

Program: 63,000 sqm. office spaceOccupancy: 100%

6. Hotels

Program: 2 hotels with 200 rooms each

7. Accommodations

Program: 700 unitsOccupancy: 95%

8. University

1500 students

9. Green Areas

8 hectares

10. Parking Space

6000 units

First Thing First: Infrastructure

Preparing infrastructural facilities: holistic planning approach was undertaken to make Lille a success.

A Transformed City: 15 Years After Euralille

1. Lille has become one of Europe’s most important service industry

center, comprising of first class financial and commercial facilities, center for

industrial production and a world class university.

2. Euralille has transformed the city of Lille as the new real estate, finance

and food industry distribution hub for West Europe.

3. Growth of new industries such as biomedical, information technology,

technical textile and multimedia services.

4. Home for more than 30 multinational corporate companies.

5. Euralille Station and its strategic connectivity with other parts of

Western Europe contributed to the city and image marketing.

Future Development: Master Plan Expansion

Strategies Adopted in Master Planning

Leadership and Enforcement of a City Vision1. Strong political will to pull the city up to the rank of big international metropolises.

2. A vision was created to decide which infrastructures and which equipments to realize and how

they could meet the citizens’ needs and respond to global and sustainable development.

Identifying Axes and Priorities1. Stakeholders identify the strengths and the weaknesses of Lille Métropole before going to the

actual action plan.

2. Priorities were thus turning around sustainable development; through housing policy (social mix

is a core issue), employment creation, and a renewed mobility culture, control of urban sprawl

and preservation of rural spaces.

Involvement of Citizens1. The elaboration of the Master plan has been very useful to identify strengths and weaknesses,

to channel the demands and to help building a new vision for the metropolis and its citizens.

Example of Euralille’s Master Planning SuccessUsage by Inhabitants*

TRANSPORT MODE

Walking

Parking

Car

Bicycle

Two-wheel Motorized

Others

53%

17%

28%

1%

0%

1%

INHABITANTS IN THE

DISTRICT OF EURALILLE

43%

12%

43%

1%

0%

1%

INHABITANTS’

AVERAGE USE

Euralille: New Development in the Centre of Lille Urban Area by Olivier Cormier (2000)

Conclusion

Train NetworkBy integrating Lille with other parts of the EU, high speed rail network, services between London and

Brussels have greatly increased, whether for business or for pleasure. The result is not only in a

major development in leisure tourism for the Lille metropolis through visitors from neighboring

countries but also by the increasing numbers of hotels.

Shopping CenterOffers a varied range of products comparable to those sold in suburban shopping centres, but it

accessibility by walking, using public transport or the car, has resulted in the inhabitants of Lille and

its outlying areas modifying their shopping habits.

HousingHomes built on the Euralille site contribute to make it as a residential area, which is attracting

people more and more. New housing programmes are being completed and should contribute to

intensify this aspect of the Euralille project.

References

(1) Koolhaas, R. & Mau, B. (1995) Quantum Leap, SMLXL, The Monacelli Press, New York.

(2) Wall, E. & Waterman, T. (2009) Basic Landscape Architecture: Urban Design, AVA Book,

Switzerland.

(3) L’Hours, C (1998) Life after Euralille : The Changing Metropolis, Agence de développement

et d'urbanisme de Lille Métropole17, France.

(4) Cormier, O. (2000) New Development In the Centre of the Lille Urban Area, the Agency for

Urban Development and Town Planning in the Lille Metropolis, France.

(5) Delpont, A. (2002) Emerging Property Development Opportunities: The Case of Lille, Urban

Land Institute, France.

Hafiz Amirrol, Michael Lengkey, Chichi AsdaInstitut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, 2010