Transformation of commercial areas: 16 additional winners selected

“The forms of support consist of engineering assistance, assistance in project management and financing of operating deficits,” explains the government in a press release.

The support will concern towns with between 5.000 and 800.000 inhabitants.

The largest sum, almost 1,4 million euros, is intended for the Pech Marie zone in Carcassonne (Aude). The Grand Sud Passion commercial zone in La Valette du Var will receive 1,2 million euros in aid and projects in Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse 1 and 1,2 million respectively.

Nine projects, notably in New Aquitaine, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Hauts-de-France and Normandy, will also receive 75.000 euros, while three, including Westfield Rosny 2 in Île-de-France, will be supported in the realization of their projects without financial aid.

The government announced its support plan in September.

At the end of March, 74 first projects had been selected, with a budget of 26 million euros. A third wave of projects will be selected in fall 2024.

“The success of the commercial zone transformation program requires us to do more, faster and stronger,” commented the Minister Delegate for Business, Olivia Grégoire, in a press release.

“The challenge is to recreate places to live, places to share, places that mix uses” which “must allow us to develop housing where the needs are, housing that is aimed at everyone” , noted Guillaume Kasbarian, Minister Delegate in charge of Housing.

There are more than 1.500 peripheral shopping areas in France, which cover more than 500 million m2, and capture nearly 72% of French people's spending in stores.

A model inherited from the 1960s, they face a double environmental and social challenge, both a symbol of past urban sprawl and a land opportunity in the midst of a housing crisis.