Strategy for a competitive and sustainable port city

The strategy “Marseille at the heart of global flows in the Mediterranean – Strategy for a competitive and sustainable port city” was voted on by the Municipal Council on Thursday December 12, 2024, with four major ambitions:

• Accelerate the transformation of the port to develop its competitiveness and face climate and energy challenges;
• Build the future of the port by drawing on its history and culture, to develop the skills and jobs of today and tomorrow;
• Preserve the health, improve the safety and quality of life of Marseille residents;
• Improve the living environment, strengthen port and maritime areas by developing their accessibility;
• Give new impetus to the city-port relationship.

Find the “Competitive and sustainable port city” strategy and all the proposals (PDF)

The Grand Maritime Port of Marseille, pillar of the local economy

At the start of the 21st century, although facing international competition and world unrest, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) is a pillar of the local economy, a tool of sovereignty essential to France and the Europe, and a key player in international trade. It occupies the leading French maritime position, and ranks among the ten largest European ports.

The GPMM is a global port capable of handling all types of traffic, whether hydrocarbons, containers or passengers. It serves 500 ports in 160 countries and, in 2023, welcomed 9,000 calls and 72 million tonnes of goods. All modes of transport are available (port, rail, air and motorway), making Marseille and its metropolitan territory the first multimodal platform in southern Europe, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean-Rhône-Saône axis, which offers significant market and traffic development opportunities.

Employment development

The eastern basins of the GPMM meet international standards for the reception of passenger activities, which have experienced very significant development in recent years, with 4 million passengers in 2023. With its two shipping companies flying the French flag, holders of the delegation public service for serving Corsica, Marseille is establishing itself as the main port serving Corsica and the Maghreb.

Port activity, and more broadly the maritime economy, contribute decisively to the development and prosperity of Marseille, by mobilizing the unique know-how and skills of port workers. According to a 2023 INSEE study, the industrial-port cluster of Marseille-Fos generates 42,600 jobs, or nearly 8% of private salaried employment in Bouches-du-Rhône, including 14,380 in Marseille itself.

Marseille is also establishing itself as a global crossroads for digital flows, with the landing of numerous submarine cables and the establishment of data centers. These infrastructures are essential to the functioning of the internet and the global economy, and can help strengthen the digital sovereignty of France and Europe. However, their energy, environmental and land impacts must be taken into account, as well as their connection with the economic fabric and local employment.

Integrate environmental, social and cultural dimensions

Marseille and its port, a link between Europe, the Maghreb, Africa and Asia, are at a pivotal period in their history. The future of the GPMM lies not only in its logistical and economic capacities, but also in its ability to harmoniously integrate the environmental, social and cultural dimensions at the heart of its development.

The climate emergency and growing sustainability requirements require Marseille, like all major port cities in the world, to rethink their development strategies. This involves reconciling the issues of economic competitiveness, essential to the prosperity of the port community and the development of employment, with the issues of preserving the environment and improving the living environment of residents.

If port territories are fragile, particularly impacted by the effects of climate change, they also appear to be the best places to experiment with innovative solutions. Marseille aims to become a model of change for European and Mediterranean port cities. The territory would make the city and the port interact and prosper, together. Maritime activity and culture would be integrated into the urban fabric.

An ambitious strategy for the planning and development of port activities

As an active member of the International Association of Cities and Ports (AIVP), Marseille wishes to align its development with the 10 objectives of its 2030 Agenda, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for port cities. .

By adapting these objectives to the local context and issues, the City of Marseille demonstrates its desire to support an ambitious strategy for sustainable planning and economic development of port activities. The City is convinced that the most competitive port cities will be those that successfully carry out their green and blue revolution, which involves massive investments in the development of port and logistics infrastructure.

Numerous structuring projects are currently under development in the western basins of the GPMM, in the fields of energy, logistics and the circular economy. These major industrial projects will ultimately constitute powerful vectors of economic influence for the entire territory. They will contribute to the emergence of new professions and require an adaptation of the offer of qualifications and training, but also significant investments in mobility services so that these new job opportunities can benefit Marseille residents.

While the GPMM is working on the development of its 2025-2029 strategic plan and intends to develop its prospective vision for 2050, the City of Marseille wishes, in an unprecedented way, to assert through this document its own vision of port issues and its priorities for the development of its port.

Main proposals

Accelerate the transformation of the port to develop its competitiveness and face climate and energy challenges

• Massively increase public and private investments to develop the port and support its ecological transition | GPMM and partners
• Affirm a state-owned strategy serving the development of GPMM’s historic activities rather than real estate operations | GPMM
• Make the GPMM the driving force behind the construction of the large river-sea port on the Mediterranean – Rhône – Saône axis by ensuring that the integration process is carried out in the interest of the territory, port workers and local businesses | GPMM, UMF, municipalities
• Develop ro-ro traffic in the eastern basins to the height of their potential and initiate reflection on the possibilities of building on elevated land areas to provide additional storage and traffic margins | GPMM
• Making sustainable ship retrofit a new market opportunity and a competitive advantage for the shipbuilding industry.
  ship repair | Marseille Shipyard
• Develop energy production capacities at the port (geothermal energy, thalassothermal energy, wave energy, etc.) to meet the city's energy needs | GPMM, City, private operators

Building the future of the port by drawing on its history and culture, to develop the skills and jobs of today and tomorrow

• Place training and skills development issues at the heart of the strategic project focused on the issues of energy transition and decarbonization | GPMM, Region, City
• Create the future firefighter school in order to make Marseille-Fos a Euro-Mediterranean reference in the field of maritime and port security | City, BMPM
• Make the Port Center a unifying place for maritime employment stakeholders to encourage vocations for maritime careers among young people | GPMM, Region, Metropolis, City
• Contribute to the promotion of the Port Center via the Tourist Office and the Marseille museums so that all schoolchildren can discover the port | Town, Tourist office

Improving the health, safety and quality of life of Marseille residents

• Relaunch intergovernmental negotiations for the creation of an ECA (Emission control area), limiting emissions of maritime atmospheric pollutants in the Mediterranean | State
• Establish a “Clean Air Zone” (maritime ZFE) to improve air quality and the health of Marseille residents | State, GPMM, Metropolis, City
• Accelerate the connection schedule for Form 10, closer to homes than cruise terminals | GPMM, Region, City
• Implement in 2025 the railway nuisance reduction program requested by the City (noise barrier in Saint-André) and with a budget of €8 million, including €3 million financed by the municipality | State, City, Metropolis, Department
• Create the “Protected City Laboratory” (mobile equipment for detecting and measuring air-water-soil pollution) | City, BMPM
• Supervise and limit the development of mass cruises and as soon as possible only welcome ships capable of connecting to the quayside | Status, GPMM
• Limit and ultimately prohibit the reception of ships equipped with open-loop scrubber systems | Status, GPMM

Improve the living environment, strengthen port and maritime areas by developing their accessibility

• Launch a global program to requalify and improve the living environment of Estaque, Saint-Henri and Saint-André, integrating a calming of the RD 568, pedestrianization and greening of spaces | Metropolis, City
• Serving Estaque by sea shuttle including winter, passing inside the Digue du large | GPMM, RTM
• Protect the tracks dedicated to freight and the constitution of long trains at the Arenc railway terminal within the framework of the LNPCA | SNCF-Réseau, Region
• Support and develop the large yacht repair sector in a logic articulated between Marseille and La Ciotat | GPMM, Region, Metropolis
• Equip the J4 with electrical connections | GPMM
• Limit the development of data centers exclusively to abandoned or polluted spaces, only to locations that do not compete with maritime and port activities | GPMM, Metropolis
• Install an “urban captaincy” to better manage the flow of visitors who arrive and leave Marseille via one of its four major gateways (port, airport, SNCF station, highways) | State, GPMM, City, Metropolis, Region, RTM, Airport, SNCF

Give new impetus to the city-port relationship

• Develop a new “port city contract” updating the 2013 City-Port Charter by integrating current issues: security, climate change, public health, environment, culture and heritage, participation of civil society | City, State and partners
• Associate the Marine Fire Battalion with the City-Port Charter and the port city contract | City, State
• Associate the University and researchers more closely | City, State, AMU and partners
• It is imperative to preserve spaces dedicated to industrial activity | GPMM
• Develop links between the eastern and western basins of the port, reconciling industrial and logistical activities with urban and environmental needs | GPMM, City, Metropolis
• Relaunch the project to create a rail shuttle between the Eastern and Western basins | GPMM, SNCF-Réseau, Métropole