To avoid decay, La Défense wants to be a neighborhood where people live

If nothing is done, the rate of unoccupied spaces among the towers of La Défense, Europe's leading business district, could reach nearly 40% in ten years, according to a study by the consulting firm Deloitte.

Commissioned by the La Défense users' association (Aude) to assess the current attractiveness of La Défense and draw up scenarios for its future, the consultancy firm draws up a gloomy assessment: 19% of offices are currently unoccupied in La Défense, compared to 4% in Paris intra-muros.

The advent of teleworking has obviously slowed down the use of towers, but the obsolescence of some of the offices is also causing them to be deserted: Géraud Colcombet, partner at Deloitte, cites "buildings that no longer comply with the various fire or energy regulations, offices that do not correspond to current working methods, which are uncomfortable for users", with, for example, rooms without openings to the outside or floors without collaborative spaces.

In its "action" scenario, Deloitte recommends renovating and converting obsolete towers towards activities that are still predominantly tertiary but more mixed and not focused solely on office life.

The main focus would be the development of a campus, with a business incubator, 5.000 additional student accommodations, training and conference centers, and a university library.

"If we don't have this diversity, we don't have a vibrant neighborhood," says Raphaël Adam, the diverse left-wing mayor of Nanterre.

As for the LR mayor of Courbevoie, Jacques Kossowski, he believes that transforming towers into housing will not be enough: "The La Défense project will be successful when the big bosses want to come" and invest in the district.

The ideas presented on Tuesday to transform the business district largely take up the ten proposals arising from the "Etats généraux de La Défense", detailed in June 2023.

Restructuring existing buildings, accommodating more shops and restaurants on the ground floors and roofs, creating a campus, planting outdoor spaces and creating cycle paths are among the major areas of transformation.