Marseille, a Euromediterranean city, welcomes and retains skills, talent and capital.
The Euromediterranean project launched in 1995 and declared an "Opération d’Intérêt National"
(a town planning scheme of interest to the country as a whole, protected by special legal status), aims to “make Marseille one of the top Southern European cities.” The project is based on reworking 310 hectares of land in the city centre, and work should be completed in 2012.
The scheme has several strategic aims:
- to reassert Marseille’s vocation as a port
- to restore its urban landscape
- to establish new businesses
- to attract foreign investment
- to facilitate a social mix
As a result of this project, Marseille should become Southern Europe’s major international business centre and the main crossroads for trade with the Mediterranean.
What is the Euro Mediterranean project?
The Euro Mediterranean project focuses on the planning and economic development of a 310ha area between the centre of Marseille, the commercial port and the TGV mainline railway station.
The project has national investment operation (a town planning scheme of interest to the country as a whole, protected by special legal status) status. The project was begun in 1995 by the Government, the city of Marseille, the Marseille Provence Urban Authority, the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region and the Bouches-du-Rhône General Council. It benefits from European funding.
The Euro Mediterranean project can be summed up as a way of boosting the development, attractiveness and influence of the Marseille urban area.
Based on objectives fixed by the Board, the public authority which is running the project designs and implements several programmes in the area:
City planning: Drawing up of planning documents and carrying out major urban works including infrastructure (roads, tunnels and networks), facilities (tram system, schools, gymnasiums) and public spaces (squares, green spaces, road layout).
Property development: Planning and running of projects in partnership with promoters and investors, aiming to construct or renovate offices, housing, shops, hotels and cultural and leisure facilities.
Economic and employment development: Marketing studies, promotion, PR and canvassing in order to make Marseille appealing, to attract companies, investors and international organizations and to create new jobs.
Quality of life: Slum clearance, housing renovation aid, construction of social housing, improvement of public spaces, creation of sports facilities, development of community services.
All of these programmes are carried out in partnership with funding bodies, public sector partners and the financial sector, and in consultation with residents.
Economic Environment :
Marseille, a major city for the services industry, is now focusing on new technologies, and this, combined with intense, multi-faceted business activity and cross-Mediterranean freight traffic, means that the city has truly risen to the challenge of economic diversification.
The constant year on year increase in conferences and the rise in the number of hotels between now and 2010 are proof of this development.
Marseille is confirming its status as a conference and business city. With food processing, biotechnologies, offshore, genetics, IT and immunology, Marseille boasts a wide range of industries.
Universities and Research
With three universities, thirty grande écoles and faculties with a total of 90,000 students, Marseille has become France’s second largest public research centre for science with 3,000 researchers working in 300 laboratories (astronomy, marine ecology, robotics, AIDS research.)
The Château Gombert science park, set up in 1989, also has an industrial innovation centre.
Culture and Nature
With more than thirty museums, twenty-five theatres, ten concert venues, an opera house and new arts and music arenas such as the Friche Belle de Mai and the Docks des Suds, Marseille has an intense cultural life, which is open to influences from all over the world.
As a link between North and South and the location of the Mediterranean movida, Marseille is becoming a cultural centre.
The city enjoys an exceptional natural heritage (the Calanques (creeks), the Frioul archipelago of four islands, which includes the famous Château d’If, home to Dumas’s literary creation, the Count of Monte Cristo) and offers numerous exciting and enriching activities both on land and on the water.
The Marseille urban area stretches out over close to 24,000 hectares of which 9,000 are designated natural areas.
The Calanques are the perfect place for climbing, swimming, walking and underwater diving.
