Regional news. Plaine Commune celebrates its tenth birthday by launching an ambitious development plan.

Plaine Commune, the second-largest agglomeration community in Paris Region, is celebrating its tenth birthday by launching an ambitious development plan. The eight towns belonging to the intercommunal structure – Aubervilliers, Epinay-sur-Seine, La Courneuve, L’Ile-Saint-Denis, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Saint-Denis, Stains and Villetaneuse – recently approved a five-year investment plan (2010-2015) as part of the sustainable development plan approved in 2007 (the ‘Plan d’Aménagement et de Développement Durable’, abbreviated as PADD). One of the flagship projects covers public planning schemes, including urban and residential development projects like the Ecoquartier (eco-neighbourhood) on Ile-Saint-Denis in the Seine river, the ZAC-Canal (Canal business park) in Aubervilliers and Campus Condorcet (see article (in french only)

To find out more, read the Plaine Commune sustainable development plan in full (French only).

Plaine-Commune in brief:
Dynamic economic sectors:
Banking/insurance
ICT
Energy (EDF)
Aerospace (Eurocopter, Delage Aéro, Précilec)

Transport links
Extension of two Metro lines (12 and 13), two RER (high-speed metro) lines (B and D), light railway, two motorways (A86 and A1), three planned light railway links and a proposed TGV (high-speed rail) station.

Teaching and research:
Plaine-Commune has a total of 1,500 university research/teaching staff, divided between three institutions (Paris 8, Paris 13 and CNAM) and 40,000 students. The community also has two technology platforms – focused on engineering/production materials and art/science/technology – whose role is to forge links between the research centres and innovative businesses.

Real estate:
In 2009, the agglomeration community offered 1,400,000 m² of office space, with plans for a further 926,000 m² to be developed.

Source: Les Echos du 17/02/2010; www.plainecommune.fr

© Plaine Commune/DMS

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Transport networks. Paris Region, a major logistical hub in Europe

Its geographical location, at the crossroads of Nothern, Southern and Esatern Europe, the richness of its communication networks and multimodal platforms, and their environmentally-focused development combine to make the Paris Region a major European logistics hub. Few areas in the world can boast as many logistical assets as the Paris Region.

Firstly, its geographic position
Located at the crossroads of European and world exchanges, this region, which totals 11.5 million inhabitants and play host to more than 600,000 companies, is the second business cluster of the 500 leading companies. Secondly, the multiplicity of its transportation modes is remarkable. Its two main international airports – Paris Orly and more importantly Paris Charles de Gaulle – and the Bourget airport for business aviation make it the Number One European airport hub. The same ranking is achieved when you consider its highway network, with its 700 km of highway which branch out across the entire continent and its 12,000 km of roadways. Regarding its rail network, it arouses the envy of other largest international regions with its six high-speed train stations and its direct lines to London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, along with its 111 freight stations and 640 sites directly connected to them. Lastly, its river transportation system, which ranks #2 on the continent, is especially developed, with 70 ports and 10 multimodal platforms spread over its 500 km of waterways.

World leaders have chosen the Paris Region
It is not surprising, under these conditions, that large world enterprises specialized in logistics have chosen the Paris Region as their location. Of the 5,000 companies in the business that are registered there, we note the presence of the leading names in the industry such as Air France, Cargo, FedEx, UPS, DHL, Hays Logistics, Geodis, Prologis and TNT. “It was crucial tp be at the center of a large European economic zone with an extensive labor pool and, as is the case at Roissy, to take advantage of their connections with other countries, for example Africa”, explains Nathalie Amiel-Ferrault, Vice-President Consumer Experience at FedEx Europe, Middle East, India and Africa.

© Aéroports de paris / Photothèque du laboratoire

Source: Paris-Region Magazine, issue 9, march 2010

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