Study after study, poll after poll, Bordeaux reaffirms its special place in the minds of business leaders and their employees. According to Arthur Lloyd's 2021 Barometer on the attractiveness of French metropolises, Bordeaux has climbed to second place for the first time in the Très Grandes Métropoles category, now ahead of Toulouse and closing in on Lyon. Similarly, in the ninth edition of its "Attractiveness of French Cities" study, Bordeaux was ranked second in the Très Grandes Métropoles category.Favourite cities for Parisian executives"published at the end of last summer, Cadremploi ranked Bordeaux first, ahead of Nantes, Lyon, Aix-Marseille and Montpellier.
The arrival of the TGV line in 2017 is obviously no stranger to this, putting Paris just over two hours from Bordeaux Saint Jean station, and with it a host of executives potentially heading for a better quality of life. This desire has been reinforced by the health crisis and the widespread use of telecommuting. " It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue in the long term. One thing is certain, the appeal of Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon for executives is well established: these cities are dynamic employment areas that also offer the following advantages a pleasant living environmentParisians are looking for" says Elodie Franco Da Cruz, Head of Research at Cadremploi.
New business centres of gravity in Bordeaux
Bordeaux didn't wait for the Covid crisis, or even the completion of the LGV, to imagine its economic future. Since the mid-2010s, it rethinks, renovates and innovates as the projects launched under Alain Juppé's last term of office progress. It is also spreading out: the city, which for a long time had the seventies Meriadeck district as its centre of gravity, is opening up its business horizons in all directions, towards the south and the Euratlantique districtThese include the Ginko eco-neighbourhood on the banks of the lake, Bastide Neel and the Brazza district on the other bank of the Garonne.
Presented as one of the largest development projects in France, 75 % of the Euratlantique district has now been delivered and extends the city's boundaries from Saint-Jean station towards Floirac and Bègles. With a 20-year target of 25,000 inhabitants, as many new jobs and 300,000 m² of offices, housing and facilities, the district is favoured by companies in the bancassurance sector, including Allianz, AG2R and the Caisse d'Epargne, with the Caisse des dépôts et consignations due to move in shortly.
The proximity of the TGV station makes it ideal for the regional headquarters of national and multinational companies. But the Euratlantique district is not just for big business, with another focal point being the MECAthe House of creative economy and culture in Aquitaine, and Parc Newton in Bègles, home to wind power pioneer Valorem and other players in the wind energy sector. green growth. All on a site that was once home to Esso. Like a symbol.
The district reflects current trends, with a mix of housing and offices, shops and restaurants, hotels and, of course, green spaces. In this context, a former expressway, the boulevard des Frères Moga, which served as the southern entrance to the Bordeaux metropolis, has begun its transformation to become a quiet, tree-lined avenueThe Euratlantique district will also be the centre of the city, with plenty of room for pedestrians and cyclists. An "express" cycle lane will soon link the Euratlantique district to the centre of Bordeaux, as far as the Chaban-Delmas bridge and the Bassins à Flot.
The digital ecosystem in the Bassins à Flot district
With 5,400 homes and 90,000m² of office space, the Bassins à Flot district is home to Bordeaux's new tech wave. This is where sports betting site Betclic chose to set up its headquarters, relocating its teams from Paris and London. It's also where Ubisoft opened its studio in 2017 and where Cdiscount has set up its 600 employees, almost at the foot of the emblematic Cité du Vin. Among other companies, IDMOG, Niji, OVH and coworking space Mama Works have all chosen to set up in this booming district. The city, which has been awarded the French Tech label, is betting on innovation and is strengthening this ecosystem by welcoming the following companies to the district nurturing future talentThese include the Digital Campus, dedicated to the digital sector, and LISAA Bordeaux, which focuses on design, graphics and video games.
However, borders are not compartmentalised. For example, Crédit Agricole Aquitaine's regional bank moved its head office to the Bassins à flot in 2018. The Euratlantique district is also home to the Cité Numérique, in the Terres Neuves district of Bègles, on a former postal sorting site. This innovative ecosystem, which has been awarded the French Tech label, extends over 25,000 m² and more than 8,500 m² of outdoor space. As for Ubisoft, in order to be able to accommodate more talent, its Bordeaux headquarters will cross the Garonne at the end of 2023 to set up in the Bastide-Niel eco-districtThis is the result of the redevelopment of former railway sites and the former Niel barracks. Bordeaux is still reinventing itself.
