It will be called George-Sand, Dian-Fossey or Rosa-Bonheur. While waiting for its final baptism by its future users, it is the Marais park. Marais like the name of this former industrial district straddling the cities of Lille and Lomme, the scene of the vast urban redevelopment project which, since 2004, has given birth to the Rives de la Haute-Deûle (RHD) eco-district born around EuraTechnologies, a start-up incubator that has become a European temple of the digital economy.
Presented as a haven of biodiversity, the future 2.3-hectare green space is the pivotal element of RHD2, which concretely launches the second phase of the development of the ZAC. Around the park, whose inauguration is scheduled for January 2026, the program provides for 625 housing units (1). An initial consultation for their construction will be opened at the end of the year. It will be provided with demanding specifications for biodiversity, warns Soreli, the developer of the ZAC.
“Here, the park will enter the buildings,” warns Martine Aubry, Mayor of Lille. “The developers will have to make do with the park,” insists Fabienne Duwez, General Manager of Soreli. In short, there will have to be visual and ecological continuity between private gardens and public green space. Via “permeable” fences, capable of implementing the concept of “passing nature”.
Renaturation des sols. Innovation is also to be found on the flooring side. “We stopped ourselves from buying topsoil,” explains Anne-Sylvie Bruel, landscaper for the project. Here, the polluted soil has been replaced by a clever mixture: deconstruction products from the city’s construction sites, crushed silt and compost. Three ingredients dosed differently to “stick” to the original soils – even if they come from industrialization – and to the species present on the site. Thus, birches will take their place on the ballast of a railway track or cherry trees and elderberries on industrial embankments. Costed at €12.5 million (including €2.5 million in design office and project management fees), the development is also intended to be exemplary in terms of rainwater management and recovery. Swales, wetlands, large central pond… will dot the site on which more than 150 trees have been preserved.
For RHD1 (25 ha including 10 of public spaces), 955 housing units have already been delivered, i.e. 85% of the program.
(1) For RHD2 (13 ha including 4.9 of public spaces), 1,000 housing units were designed in total, including 725 in firm phase (625 in the Marais sector and 100 in Boschetti) and 275 in optional phase.
