Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: SPIRITPROD33 / ONLY FRANCE / ONLY FRANCE VIA AFP 15:54 pm, September 11, 2023

In order to accompany the transformation of about twenty commercial areas located at the entrance of cities, symbols of the "peripheral France" and the nibbling of agricultural land, the government launched Monday a call for projects with a budget of 24 million euros.

The government launched Monday a call for projects with a budget of 24 million euros to support the transformation of about twenty commercial areas located at the entrance of cities, symbols of the "peripheral France" and the nibbling of agricultural land. "These zones are in many ways the embodiment of the twentieth century: that of mass consumption, that of the automobile for all, that of the pavilion for everyone," said the Minister Delegate for SMEs, Trade and Crafts Olivia Grégoire.

Commercial areas account for 72% of French spending

Symbol of what some observers call "the ugly France", these areas numbering 1,500 to 1,800 are characterized by wide roads lined with billboards, with facades usually made of sheet metal and surrounded by large car parks. For traders too, this model has long been "a form of Eldorado", acknowledged the minister, with shops built sixty years ago "on inexpensive agricultural land, cubic shoeboxes built at a lower cost".

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Even today, they concentrate 72% of French spending. But in a world "that is becoming aware of its limits, the commercial area has reached its limits," said the minister. "We have major ecological issues, namely how to avoid having buildings that are thermal sieves," said the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu, who hopes to halve the current deadlines for redeveloping these areas. "It's not primarily a problem of money. What is blocking today are the regulations, the deadlines, the authorization procedures," he acknowledged.

Two waves of winners chosen in late 2023 and early 2024

Concretely, project leaders will have to contact the prefectures, which will make a pre-selection of files. The €24 million envelope is intended to finance preliminary studies and recruit a project manager. The Green Industry bill, under discussion in Parliament, should also lift certain regulatory blockages, for example by allowing derogations from the local urban plan (PLU) or reducing delays. Two waves of winners will be chosen, in November 2023 and early 2024.

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However, there is no question of applying the same transformation model, each zone being different. Thus, a dynamic commercial area in an urban area can be densified and make way for housing, while a deprived area can be "renatured", or accommodate industrial activity when it is located in a sparsely populated area. The government had already announced last autumn the extension to city entrances of Act 2 of Action coeur de ville (ACV), a program that only concerns medium-sized cities.