In addition to housing, the new district will welcome, by 2030, shops, a high school, and a cinema.
The first stone was laid this Friday, September 13. As part of the Gratte-Ciell project, six new towers will be built by 2026 in the city center of Villeurbanne (Rhône), including a Signal tower which should reach a height of 59m.
This project should allow the city to adapt to the ever-increasing number of inhabitants. “The objective of this project is to double the city center between the north and the south, particularly north of Cours Émile Zola,” explains Agnès Thouvenot, first deputy mayor of Villeurbanne, on the set of BFM Lyon.
“When Lazare Goujon, the historic mayor of Villeurbanne, built the city centre there were 80,000 inhabitants. Today, there are almost 160,000 of us, so we need to have a bigger city centre and we need to continue to build housing because there are many people who need housing in Villeurbanne,” she continues.
“Allowing everyone to have housing”
In total, more than 800 new homes need to be built. “We want a city for everyone, so we need social housing, housing for home ownership and free housing, so there will be a very significant share of subsidized housing to allow everyone to find housing,” the elected official adds.
More than 150 homes have already found tenants. Students will also be able to benefit from this project since a student residence is to be built in one of the buildings, work on which will begin at the beginning of 2025.
This new city center must also accommodate new shops, a cinema, a youth center, a high school, a school and even a gymnasium, with the aim of “making it a city center”.
Romain Ethuin, Emilie Roussey
