A) Flood protection
B) Urban logistics
C) Revitalization of city centres
Three challenges for the future of metropolises, responses in the form of action programmes.
The Greater Paris Metropolis had the pleasure of welcoming members of the BEST network on December 5th and 6th, 2024 to discuss complex and eminently concrete topics. The Greater Paris Metropolis wanted to punctuate this 31st meeting around three structuring themes of its action: protection against floods, the development of urban logistics and the revitalization of city centres.
Floods are the first natural risk in the territory, as evidenced by the great flood of 1910 or more recently that of June 2016. The Metropolis, holder of the GEMAPI competence on its territory, is resolutely committed to flood prevention. Our discussions with Corjan Gebraad (strategic advisor in Rotterdam) allowed us to recall the importance of coordinating policies at all territorial levels to prevent risks.
Driven by its action in favour of river logistics (visit to the Ikea unloading dock), the Metropolis wanted to present its work for urban logistics, a relatively recent field of study, which is emerging in connection with the need to decarbonize our economies. Like mobility policies, our metropolises will have to play their part in structuring the development of new logistics practices while reconciling the needs of entrepreneurs and consumers.
Finally, our city centres, the beating hearts of our metropolises, are victims of new consumption patterns and threatened in their activity and attractiveness. 71 city centres are in danger among the 130 municipalities of the Metropolis. This is why we wanted to present our Living City Centres programme. A programme backed by a commercial real estate company that works to revitalize city centres and combat commercial desertification.
I am looking forward to these two days of reflection and learning, driven by the quality of our speakers and of our guests’ rich contribution. May the spirit of these meetings guide our metropolitan work, while we wait to meet again in Nantes for our 32nd meeting!
Philippe Castanet, Chief Executive of the Greater Paris Metropolis
PROGRAM
An atypical metropolis
Presentation of the organization and skills of the Greater Paris Metropolis (MGP)
> Nathalie VAN SCHOOR, Deputy Director General of the Greater Paris Metropolis.
Protection against the risk of flooding
Exercising the GeMAPI competence
The Greater Paris Metropolis took on the GeMAPI (Aquatic Environment Management and Flood Prevention) competence on January 1st, 2018, thereby inheriting very diverse and heterogeneous protection works and organizations related to the management of rivers.
>Claire BEYELER, Head of the GEMAPI / Water department at the Greater Paris Metropolis.
Flood risk management in the City of Rotterdam
The Dutch National Delta Programme: a strategy for flood protection, ensuring sufficient fresh water, and climate and water resilience.
> Corjan GEBRAAD, Strategic Advisor for Urban Management, Water, Flood Prevention and Climate Change Adaptation at the Rotterdam Urban Management Department.
GeMAPI in the Strasbourg Eurometropolis area
>Bruno KOEBEL, CEO of the Eurometropolis and the City of Strasbourg.
Urban Logistics
River transport in Paris
Visit to the Bercy urban port and presentation of the Ikea system for delivering Parisian customers via the Seine.
> Emilie CARPELS, River Project Director at Ikea France.
> Sophie BARICHARD, Development Director of the Paris Territorial Directorate – Haropa Port.
The emergence of the function of regulatory authority for urban area logistics
This function complements the missions of the mobility organizing authority to integrate deliveries. The Ministry of Transport encourages the structuring of operational public/private governance at the scale of urban areas and the construction of national commons that can be mobilized at the scale of urban areas.
>Xavier-Yves VALÈRE, Head of the freight mission at the General Directorate of Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility (DGITM).
New challenges and new solutions
Urban logistics is changing rapidly as a result of technological changes, driven by large global groups or “urban freight tech” startups. It structures logistics real estate while modes of transport are diversifying.
> Laetitia DABLANC, Research director at the City Mobility Transport Laboratory (LVMT), director of the Logistics City Chair, Gustave Eiffel University.
Living city centres
The attractiveness of city centres and the levers for action to revitalise local commerce
Presentation of the MGP’s “Living City Centres” programme to support municipalities in their city centre revitalisation projects.
It involves the creation of a property subsidizing company to take action on vacant areas.
> Marine ONFRAY, Managing Director of the Living City Centres property subsidies company.
> Ronan MAHEO, Local Economy and Urban Manufacturing Project Manager at the MGP.
The European Urbact Cities@Heart programme
Presentation of this European programme led by the Greater Paris Metropolis.
This partnership brings together 10 European local authorities working together to revitalise their city centres and assess the associated public policies.
> Léonie YANG, Living City Centres project manager and Cities@Heart coordinator at the MGP.
> Mar SANTAMARIA, co-founder of the 300,000 km/s agency, consultant affiliated with the European URBACT programme.
Photo DXR, licence Creative Commons.