“The success exceeded our expectations.” The Minister of Business and Consumers, Olivia Grégoire, presented on March 28 the results of the call for expressions of interest (AMI) launched on September 11 to initiate a State policy dedicated to the modernization needs of the 1,500 peripheral commercial areas identified in France. The influence of this heritage extends over 500 million m2, that is, five times the area of ​​Paris.

Quantity and diversity

The minister refuses to accept the expression “ugly France”, to clarify these places that still concentrate 72% of French purchases in stores. However, he confirms the disadvantages that motivate the mobilization of a “working group” that brings together the Ministries of Economy and Ecological Transition: aging of a fleet with excess capacity; artificialization of areas that form barriers between the city and the countryside.

From the call for expressions of interest launched on September 11 with a response time of three weeks, Olivia Grégoire did not expect more than fifty applications. State services eventually collected 112, before selecting 74. This unexpected quantity comes in great diversity, in terms of content, degree of maturity and territorial context. The files refer to both medium-sized cities and metropolises or cities of 3,000 inhabitants.

Second consultation before summer

Still in the programming phase, 63 of the 74 selected projects will benefit from engineering support, at a rate of €75k for each of them. To this first allocation of 6 million euros is added a second allocation for a total of 20 million euros, to finance the deficits of the most advanced operations. “The quality and number of files convinced us to increase the allocation to 26 million euros, instead of the 24 announced,” underlines Olivia Grégoire.

The opportunity for a playoff opens for those who failed in the first wave. Endowed with 8 million euros, a second AMI will allow them to improve their file and will open the door to state aid for other applications, before the end of the second quarter of this year. The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy announces the second selection for the end of summer, after a more generous response time than during the first wave.

Renaturalization and diversification

Depending on the distance to city centers and the quality of public transport connections, the winners lean towards renaturalization or diversification. The second category opens a window towards the “supply shock” expected by Guillaume Kasbarian: The Minister of Housing estimates the number of homes that could be built in the already artificialized spaces of the 74 winning areas at 25,000..

“This perspective will benefit from theacceleration of urban planning procedures included in the Green Industries law », greets the minister. The projects will be able to benefit from the Friches fund and will rely on the know-how of public entities. In the future, national social housing actors will be able to join forces with local developers and developers. Guillaume Kasbarian is delighted with “the arrival of new uses to places that address all local elected officials and all French people.”

Avignon, iconic example

To illustrate the new momentum in aging areas this March 29, Olivia Grégoire did not choose her trip to Avignon Sud at random : “Anchored in the imagination of the French, the city illustrates the problem we are addressing, with its priority districts of urban policy, its urban discontinuities created by fragmented commercial areas and its urgent housing needs,” comment the services of the Minister of Accommodation.