Report and photos by Florian Guillemin.
Bordeaux's eyes are wide open to a future that is still under construction. These days, the city is even verging on hyperactivity. Thanks to an ambitious renovation and development policy, the Aquitaine metropolis has become one of the most attractive cities in the world. The blonde stone has been restored to its former glory in the heart of the city, and projects are springing up along the banks of the Garonne. Many have already blossomed: here a Cité du Vin with a distinctive design, there's a Chaban-Delmas bridge which is rising up and lighting up. And on the other side of the river, it's the new Bordeaux with the Darwin and its eco-responsible urban wasteland, where corporate events and street art mingle.
Perhaps the best is yet to come. Aiming for the goal "Bordeaux 2030The metropolis sees far and wide. Visit Euratlantique projecta pharaonic plan for the redevelopment of the region, extends to Bègles and Floirac.
Bordeaux is reinventing itself, rethinking its space and pushing back its borders. Long concentrated in Mériadeckbusiness travellers are now venturing to the Bassins à Flot. Others are heading north, towards Bordeaux Lake and its events infrastructure. Bordeaux's renaissance has rightly won it international recognition. First UNESCO, then the tourist guides, and even the prestigious New York Times have made Bordeaux "one of the most beautiful cities in the world".The place to be".
Some people - Parisians in particular - have taken the concept literally and moved right in, contributing in their own way to the metamorphosis of the city. The arrival of the high-speed line this summer should attract even more new Bordeaux residents. The city may be changing day by day, but it's still cultivating a strong sense of identity. art of living to make the biggest business destinations green with envy.
Bordeaux, a start-up city
Over the past few years, the Bordeaux economy has been exploring new strategic avenues by turning to digital technology. The dynamism of local entrepreneurship is impressive, with 4,353 new businesses created in 2015, with the metropolis recording spectacular growth (+15.5 %) since 2011 according to INSEE.
Pure local product, Cdiscount is a role model for entrepreneurs in Bordeaux. Last year, the e-commerce giant launched Startup Boostera programme designed to accelerate the emergence of local start-ups. For its part, French Tech Bordeaux is working on a daily basis to maintain this momentum, supported by acceleration programmes such as Digit'Halles or Hemera to provide financial support for local start-ups. The various players in this digital sector have made Bordeaux a leading destination in fields such as e-commerce, connected health, smart cities and video games. And it's probably no coincidence that the Bordeaux Geek Festival is now in its third edition.
At the same time, new buildings are structuring the phenomenon: the Maison de l'économie créative et de la culture en Aquitaine (MECA) will soon be opening its doors, in anticipation of the Cité numérique, further south in the city. The aim is to facilitate the emergence of local talent and attract new talent from outside the city.
Events, congresses: projects across the board
The Cité du Vin, inaugurated with great fanfare in spring 2016, has since received extensive media coverage. While the new local icon is equipped with infrastructure dedicated to events and meetings, other projects are aimed more directly at business customers. These include the new Hall 2 of the Exhibition Centre which will be inaugurated in January 2019. This space, located next to Hall 1, where the famous Vinexpo exhibition and close to the convention centre designed by Jean Nouvel, will have a capacity of 6,000 people. In a much more alternative vein, the former Niel barracks is now home to the Darwin project. On this renovated urban wasteland, the emphasis is on responsible events and a mix of genres, with modular spaces, a business incubator and a coworking centre.
Hall 2 of the exhibition centre, scheduled for 2019. In theBordeaux Mérignac airportan international business park called 45e ParallelIn addition, there is the possibility of building a new complex, including offices, a conference centre and a four-star hotel. Finally, the construction of a World Trade Center has also been under study for a number of years, and may well be completed as part of the huge regional development programme that is the Euratlantique project.
Bordeaux in figures
N°1 - In 2016, Bordeaux remained at the top of the Great Place to Work list of cities where the French would like to work.
5 - Bordeaux has five competitiveness clusters and 13 clusters in fields such as aeronautics, optics, geoscience, information and communication technologies (ICT), health and neurosciences.
800 - The hotel portfolio should total almost 13,000 rooms in 2018, with the addition of 800 new rooms.
13 000 - The Bordeaux metropolitan area is home to almost 13,000 people working in the Research & Development sector, spread across 115 laboratories.
5.8 million - The number of passengers arriving at the airport in 2016
Bordeaux Mérignac, linked to more than 80 destinations.
2030 - Bordeaux has opened a new chapter in its metamorphosis, entitled "2030: towards Greater Bordeaux, from the crescent moon to the full moon".
