La Part-Dieu () is a quarter in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, France. It is the second-largest tertiary district in France, after

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...

in Greater Paris. The area also contains Lyon's primary railway station,

La Part-Dieu La Part-Dieu () is a quarter in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, France. It is the second-largest Tertiary sector of the economy, tertiary district in France, after La Défense in Grand Paris, Greater Paris. The area also contains Lyon's primar ...

. This urban centre also provides major entertainment and cultural facilities, including one of the largest urban shopping malls in Europe, 800 shops,

Paul Bocuse Paul François Pierre Bocuse (; 11 February 1926 – 20 January 2018) was a French chef based in Lyon known for the quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy", he was affectionately nick ...

indoor food market, café terraces, the Auditorium concert hall, Bourse du Travail theatre, Municipal Library, Departmental Archives and Fort Montluc. It contains several

High-rise buildings A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

, including the Tour Incity (), the Tour To-Lyon () and the Tour Part-Dieu (). The central business district is currently undergoing major renovation and construction works, according to a revitalization project totalling €2.5 billion between public and private investments.

History

Etymology

Various theories try to explain the origins of the "Part-Dieu" name (literally "Property of God"). It could either come from the tenacity with which several landlords managed to save pieces of land from

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

waters or how Guillaume de Fuer named his parcel "Pardeu" by the end of the 12th century. A last theory states that Marc-Antoine Mazenod gave his 140 hectares land to Hôtel-Dieu Public Hospitals after his daughter was saved miraculously and named it "Gift from God".

Farmlands

Before the 1850s, La Part-Dieu was composed of rural flood-zones. It was ceded by the Mazenod-Servient family to the

Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon The Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon () was a hospital of historical significance situated on the right bank of the Rhône river in Lyon, on the Presqu'île (the peninsula between the Saône and Rhône which run through the city centre). It has been out of use ...

Public Hospitals in 1737. The embankment of the

river and construction of bridges (see Bridges of Lyon) led to the management of flood risk and urbanization of the eastern Rhone bank from 1772 onwards. By the end of the 18th century, La Part-Dieu domain was a large estate bordered by the

Brotteaux Brotteaux is a neighborhood in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. It is situated between the Rhône and the track railway which leads to the Gare de la Part-Dieu. The urbanization of this area began in the late eighteenth century under the leadership ...

and Guillotière districts. Lafayette bridge erected in 1872 accelerated the eastward urbanization process, while cleansed farmlands gave way to wheat production. From 1830 to 1848, the city erected walls to protect itself from foreign invasions. Montluc Fort saw life in 1831. La Part-Dieu, thus becoming a fort, acquired a military function. Because of the administrative, urban and geological complexity of Lyon, rail transport brought multiple train stations to existence. The Part-Dieu one was solely dedicated to

freight transport Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been exte ...

Cavalry barracks

In 1844, Public Hospitals sold their land to the military administration, which built cavalry barracks from 1851 to 1863. However, the process of urbanization was limited by traverse axes and the fact that Lafayette street was the only road connecting La Part-Dieu with Central Lyon. The district was added to Lyon administrative area in 1852. To link the city with Geneva, Gare des Brotteaux was designed by the

Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other ...

company, which led to the dismantling of wall fortifications to make way for railway lines. Meanwhile, the military compound took on the orthogonal footprint of the original farm estate. Many cavalry units were mobilized during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century,

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the f ...

was elected Mayor of Lyon, a dominating French city outside of Paris, thanks to its dynamic industrial and commercial output. Inspired by the French hygiéniste urbanist movement, similar to

Haussmann's renovation of Paris Haussmann's renovation of Paris was a vast public works programme commissioned by French Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870. It included the demolition of medieval ...

, he undertook major works to improve urban and social space. The eastward urban expansion of rail and road networks turned La Part-Dieu marshalling yards into the centre of the metropolitan area. In 1926, a project based on American Downtowns emerged.

Post-war housing

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, France's top priorities were to rebuild the housing stock fast, to push for economic development and to favour efficient movements by car. Due to the evolution of warfare, the military compound lost its importance and became part of a massive housing estate project. In 1960, the

French State Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...

sold the lands to a private company, SERL, to bring the project to life. The subsequent demolition of existing structures took 5 years. The fact that large estates were owned by state administrations (Public Hospitals,

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

and the military), allowed for a profound transformation right in the middle of the city. The program evolved under the mandate of Mayor Pradel, not only by pushing for housing construction but also for encouraging the construction of an administrative centre and private office space to host public services, such as radio and police stations. The winning architectural project abided by the Athens Charter, a rigorous

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

urban planning philosophy developed by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. It promoted the separation of human and car flow through the use of "above the street" concrete structures, in a

fashion, allowing for car supremacy on the lower street level, while overhead orthogonal architecture standing on reinforced concrete stilts followed the

Unité d'habitation The ''Unité d'habitation'' (, ''Housing Unit'') is a Modern architecture, modernist residential housing Typology (urban planning and architecture), typology developed by Le Corbusier, with the collaboration of painter-architect Nadir Afons ...

principles. Consequently, several buildings were drawn by the hands of Jacques Perrin-Fayolle, Jean Sillan and Jean Zumbrunnen, nonetheless, only a third of the planned structures were constructed.

Directional center

While the

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

government pushed for the decentralization of France, car-centric urbanism from the

Trente Glorieuses ''Les Trente Glorieuses'' (; 'The Thirty Glorious (Years)') was a thirty-year period of economic growth in France between 1945 and 1975, following the end of the Second World War. The name was first used by the French demographer Jean Fourast ...

fuelled peripherical growth at the expense of city centres. As a result, a management plan was drafted by urbanist Charles Delfante and Jean Zumbrunnen, under the supervision of Mayor Louis Pradel. It included the development of commercial, tertiary and cultural activities, to compete with Paris and other international cities and to turn La Part-Dieu into a showcase of modernity. A central train station was planned but the

refused to fund it, a move which hindered the purpose of the directional center. Lyon had to become the "Balancing Metropolis", relying on regional cities like

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

or Saint Etienne, that fought the impoverishment and depopulation of urban centers, owing to a network of highways passing through La Part-Dieu. The original plan included major east–west and north–south green axes, pedestrian-friendly spaces such as a central plaza well served by public transit, and an iconic tower as tall as the

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière () is a minor basilica in Lyon, France. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominant position overlooking the city. The site it occupies was once the Roman forum of Trajan, the ''foru ...

from its historical hill. However, the 1970s oil shocks and following housing crises altered the project as profitability became the main concern, isolating the district from the rest of city flows. Pedestrians were alienated because of the rupture of major axes caused by the expansion of the central mall, and also by favouring vehicle transport over public transit and finally by constructing concrete pedestrian bridges several meters above street level that isolated architectures into islands. Nevertheless, several iconic structures were elevated during this decade, such as the Municipal Library (1972), the Mall and Auditorium (1975) and Tour Part-Dieu (1977). To that end, La Part-Dieu differentiated itself from the historical center with a strong architectural identity by offering high end tertiary activities and public services.

Major rail node

In 1974, it was decided to transfer the old Brotteaux station to La Part-Dieu thanks to its central position. By that time, line of Lyon Métro arrived under the mall in 1978. Half of the marshalling yards were converted into a large real estate project to fund the development of the new train station on each side of the rail tracks. The objective was also to integrate the district with its railways, that is, Central Lyon with eastern neighborhoods. 1983 saw the inauguration of France's first high speed rail

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

line, between Lyon and Paris. However, large urban roads surrounding the business district such as Viver-Merle Boulevard, kept the business district isolated from Central Lyon and the train station.

European business district

La Part-Dieu's expansion slowed down during the 1990s because of a strong momentum of urban development all over the agglomeration, regarding the Confluence district, the Cité Internationale, Gerland and La Doua Campus. The City Council drove efforts to minimize car travel and to encourage public transit within city limits. It also wished to establish a proper European business district doubling its office supply by densifying the area with 7 highrises such as the Swiss Life and Oxygène Tower, although most proposals were scrapped, because Lyon was focusing elsewhere. Other objectives aimed at reintegrating the district within its surrounding urban environment by rethinking major axes, bringing the T1 tramway to life, renovating public spaces, improving connections between the métro and the main train station and demolishing elevated pedestrian footbridges.

Urbanity

Urban and green space

A district of 21,000 inhabitants, La Part-Dieu has developed on both sides of the railway and is mostly made up of high-rise and

low-rise A low-rise is a building that is only a few stories tall or any building that is shorter than a high-rise, though others include the classification of mid-rise. Definition Emporis defines a low-rise as "an enclosed structure below 35 metres 15 ...

architecture. According to La Part-Dieu SPL area, this 3rd arrondissement district is roughly limited by Garibaldi street to the West ( Rhône Docks and Place Guichard district), Juliette Récamier to the North (

district), Maurice Flandin to the East (La Villette district) and the former La Buire automotive plants to the South (ZAC de La Buire). The original project was based on

urban planning model. La Rize river used to run through Part-Dieu but was buried in a sewage system. Nowadays, urban planners aim at preventing urban heat island effects thanks to green spaces. For example, Garibaldi street, once a main urban highway, has been revamped as a part of a green path going from Tête d’Or Park to Sergent Blandan and Gerland Park. La Part-Dieu also offers several plazas (Nelson Mandela, Europe, Du lac, Voltaire and Francfort), several gardens (Jugan, Jacob-Kaplan and Sainte-Marie-Perrin) and a park (Montluc Fort), on top of the centenary plane trees from the former cavalry barracks.

Governance

The current 3rd arrondissement mayor is

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

Véronique Bertrand-Dubois. She works for

Lyon Metropolis The Metropolis of Lyon (, ), also known as Grand Lyon (, "Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly-elected metropolitan authority, encompassing both the city of Ly ...

' permanent commission as an advisor on urban habitat, planning, housing and politics. The SPL Part-Dieu, or La Part-Dieu's publicly owned local development corporation, is used by local authorities as an operational tool. It was created back in 2014 and is governed by a board of administrators, chaired by David Kimelfed, head of Lyon Metropolis. 20 people work on urban, economic, human and resources related problems. They manage, control, promote and coordinate the La Part-Dieu project.

is headquartered in La Part-Dieu district, in a

Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

building from the 1970s, on Garibaldi street. It concentrates hundreds of civil workers and local figures hold regular meetings there. Other authority figures include Police Headquarters inside Fort Montluc since 2007 and headquarters (Lyon transportation authority).

Urban services

*4 sports facilities *9 private nurseries *concierge services including dry-cleaning and postal services *primary and business schools *Manufacture des tabacs Lyon 3 Jean Moulin University campus

Economy

Regional and urban context

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region, with a GDP of 250 billion euros, is the second French and fourth European region in terms of GDP : 70,000 companies are created there each year. It is the first industrial

French region France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which hav ...

(with 500,000 industrial jobs on 50,000 sites) and second only in terms of

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

(imports amount to 11.2% and exports to 12.4% of France's global exchanges). Chemicals are the main export sector. According to a 2018 study of

Globalization and World Cities Research Network The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a British think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leic ...

(GaWC),

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

is a Beta- city, meaning that it's an important globalized city, instrumental in linking their region or state into the world economy. It is also a credible alternative to Paris, with a GDP of 74.6 billion euros and France's second business park.

Economic landscape

Over half of

's economic landscape is dedicated to sustainable city and smart systems, showing a 16 percent growth between 2008 and 2013 and now representing more than 30,000 jobs from 45,000 tertiary jobs from 60,000 total jobs inside the district. *It's mostly composed of city infrastructure and urban services (18,000 jobs) **City and building construction (

Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French engineering group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the ...

, Icade, Foncia,

, Préfecture du Rhône, Nexity) **Energy ( EDF, GRDF, SPIE, Energy Pool, Vinci,

Dalkia Dalkia is an energy service company, subsidiary of the EDF Group. Its two main businesses consist in making the most of local renewables and unlocking energy savings. Dalkia develops alternative renewables, such as biomass, geothermal, biogas ...

) **Transport and mobility (

Keolis Keolis is a French transportation company that operates public transport systems all over the world. It manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus, and funicular services. B ...

, XPOLogistics, Axxès, Clasqui) **Other public services ( INSEE, La Poste, Police Headquarters) *And engineering and digital systems (11,500 jobs) **Information and digital technology (DCS Easywear, Intitek, Orange, Bouygues Telecom,

Euriware EURIWARE was a French company that provided advanced Consultancy and IT services in the spheres of energy, industry and defense. The core business of EURIWARE included consultancy, systems integration (enterprise systems, industrial and technical ...

, RFI) **Tertiary functions of the industrial sector (

Areva Areva S.A. was a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power, active between 2001 and 2018. It was headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through t ...

, Elkem Silicones, Solvay) **Engineering service provider ( Egis, Setec, Tractebel, engineering

GDF Suez Engie SA (stylised in all caps as ENGIE) is a French multinational electric utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie. Its activities cover electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear power, renewable energy ...

, Artelia, Davidson, Burgeap) *The rest is composed of traditional business and support services (11,500 jobs) **Financial activities ( Caisse d'Épargne,

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

, Agence France Locale, Caisse des impôts,

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English-speaking countries as SocGen (), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby i ...

Natixis BPCE (for Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne) is a major French banking group formed by the 2009 merger of two major retail banking groups, Groupe Caisse d'Épargne and Groupe Banque Populaire. As of 2021, it was France's fourth-largest bank, t ...

, BPI France, Banque Populaire) **Audit, consulting, juridical advisory and high value added services ( Ernst&Young, Adamas,

ManPower Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...

Randstad NV Randstad NV, commonly known as Randstad and stylized as randstad, is a Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm headquartered in Diemen, Netherlands. Along with Adecco, the company is one of the two largest staffing firms worldwide. ...

, Amaris) **Life and non-life insurance (

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

, Klesia, MAAF,

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Its length is 30 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the ...

, MMA, Swiss Life) La Part-Dieu hosts national and regional headquarters of banks ( Caisse d’Épargne, Banque Populaire, Banque Rhône-Alpes,

, etc.), national and regional headquarters of leading consultancy firms (EY, Mc Kinsey, Adamas, and Manpower) and global headquarters of international groups ( April Group and Elkem Silicones).

Key Figures

*1,150 000 m² of office space *a flexible offer of 50 to 50,000 m² *rents from €120 to €320 per m² *97% occupancy rate *2500 companies *2000 hotel rooms and residences from one to four stars *20 places for seminars and reunions *8 business centres *available fibre optic network

Landmarks

Sole skyscraper and high-rises

The skyline is being shaped according to the Alps mountain range. Tour UAP, built in 1974 at 75 m (246 ft), was demolished in 2014 to make way for the 202 meter-tall Incity Tower. Tour EDF, built in 1977 at 82 m (269 ft), was renovated to make way for the 129 m ( ft ) Silex 2 extension in 2021. Tour M+M will make way for the M Lyon project.

Tour Incity

Tour Incity, Lyon's tallest structure, was designed by Valode & Pistre and AIA architects. The spire reaches 202 meters and was installed by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. Around 2,700 employees work on 32 floors and share the same corporate restaurant. On the top of that, Tour Incity was the first tower in

to obtain the low energy-consumption label, along with HQE and BREEAM Excellent labels. It was completed in 2016 and currently hosts regional Caisse d'Épargne bank headquarters and several

branches.

Tour Part-Dieu

Completed in 1977, this 164 meters tall building was designed by US-based architecture firm Cossutta & Associates for the main structure and by Stéphane du Château for its pyramid crown. Mainly occupied by office space, it also hosts a four-star Radisson Blu Hotel at the top. Originally named Crédit Lyonnais, it is now called Tour Part-Dieu, but is best known by its nickname, le Crayon or the Pencil. Its

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

style is showing through the terracotta cladding made up of pozzolanic sands, imitating the reddish Lyon tiles, and also through the main volume echoing with the Rose Tower traboule in the

Vieux Lyon Vieux Lyon (, ) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1964, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an area of 424 hecta ...

quarter from

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

Tour Oxygène

Tour Oxygène is a 117-meter tall high-rise crowned by a leaf resonating with the district's tradition of crowning high-rises, such as Tour Part-Dieu. Its base serves as an extension and as a direct link to the La Part-Dieu Mall, along with an underground parking lot. Designed by Arte Charpentier Architects and constructed in 2010, Tour Oxygène reflects the dynamism that Lyon has been experiencing since the early 2000s.

Tour Swiss life

Tour Swiss Life was designed by Christian Batton and Robert Roustit and completed in 1989. It reaches 82 meters and holds many Swiss Life office spaces. The whole architecture is surrounded by moats and is covered by typical late 80s and early 90s blue cladding. The company launched a project of a 220-meter skyscraper called Swiss Life 2 (formerly Eva), on the existing parking lot.

Other landmarks

Railway station

Originally planned during the 1960s, Part-Dieu railway station only opened in 1983 as part of a high speed rail line project between

and Paris. It was designed by Charles Delfante, Michel Macary, Eugène Gachon and Jean-Louis Girodet, and serves as a link between Lyon and

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France ...

, as its design allows pedestrian traffic under concrete rail viaducts. Currently saturated, it is undergoing major renovation and construction works, since it welcomes 120 000 travellers and up to 150 high-speed "

" trains per day.

Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse

La Part-Dieu covered food market is an international reference in terms of French and Lyon cuisine. 48 merchants ( fishmongers, cheesemakers, bakers and pastry cooks, caterers, cellarmen and restaurant owners ) work under the same roof and perpetuate local traditions of Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France. In 1859, the city inaugurated its first indoor food market with a 19th Century glass and cast-iron architecture in Cordeliers, easing the lives of merchants and consumers, and then decided to innovate the architectural design in the future La Part-Dieu district. Thus in 1971 the new covered market opened. Three decades later, the Halles were put in line with safety standards. It now bears the name of

, the famed starred French chef from Lyon. Around 600,000 people visited Les Halles during the 2015 Festival of Lights weekend.

Mall

La Part-Dieu mall was the largest urban mall in Europe when it opened in 1975. Built on the cavalry barracks' former location, it references the past with a parking lot named Cuirassiers or "Light Cavalry". The shopping centre has 240 shops and restaurants over five levels and is frequented by 35 million visitors a year. It also has a 14 screen multiplex cinema. Mass transportation reinforced its position as a regional shopping hub. In 2010 the mall got a major extension thanks to the Oxygène Tower. This Unibail-Rodamco owned project is currently undergoing a major renovation project, totalling 300 million euros, according to a Winy Maas design.

Auditorium Maurice Ravel

This concrete shell was named after the famed Lyon musician and was drawn by architect Henri Pottier, assistant of urbanist Charles Delfante. Even though the new auditorium offered a great Roman theatre design, it lacked a decent acoustic one. However, several renovations fixed the sound issue. It currently hosts the

Orchestre National de Lyon The Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) is a French orchestra based in Lyon. Its primary concert venue is the Maurice Ravel Auditorium. The orchestra operates with the help of a subsidy from the Ministry of Culture (France), French Ministry of Cult ...

and a substantial organ from the former Trocadéro Palace for the 1878 Exposition Universelle.

Bourse du Travail theatre

Bourse du Travail theatre was constructed between 1929 and 1936 in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style by Charles Meysson, chief architect of Lyon. The building facade is covered by a large

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

from 1934, by the hand of 35 mosaists, according to a work from painter Fernand Fargeot, representing "the city embellished by labour" hence its name "Labour Exchange" or "Bourse du Travail". Interiors are covered by plaster and painted murals inspired by socialist realism.

Municipal Library

In July 1966, Mayor Louis Pradel decided to experiment the library of the future inside the Part-Dieu project. 27,000 square meters are distributed into 3 levels, each dedicated to public reading, studies and research, while a silo contains all historical documents from the former library. The library is opened to university researchers and middle school students alike. The 1980s saw the mass informatization of data. Users had to wait until the late 2000s to get an entrance opened towards the train station plaza. The structure is currently undergoing renovation.

City and Departmental Archives

This institution was created after the French Revolution in Lyon. Documentation from the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

period used to be stored inside Hôtel de Ville vaults until it was all regrouped inside a 2014 site that opened in La Part-Dieu. It was drawn by Dumetier-design, Gautier-Conquet and Séquences. The consultation room of this golden-clad secure building currently hosts a large collection of maps, both public administrative and private reserves, notarial archives and documents from the historical library, from the year 861 till today.

Lyon Metropolis headquarters

headquarters were built between 1976 and 1978 by René Gimbert Jacques Vergély in a

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

style. Four massive square-shaped pier foundations bear the whole suspended structure, doubling as elevator shafts, and four concrete boxes self intersecting on top of it form a crown. Mirror-like curtain walls reflect the surrounding urban environment.

Montluc Fort and Prison museum

Montluc Fort was erected in 1831 under

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

's reign as part of Lyon's fortified belt, to protect the city from foreign invasions, especially

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n ones. Montluc prison opened in 1926 from the existing fort. Under the

Vichy Regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

, it became a major Jewish deportation center and

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

prison.

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and hero of the French Resistance who succeeded in unifying the main networks of the Resistance in World War II, a unique act in Europe. He served as the first Presid ...

and

Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( ; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on France in the Middle ...

were imprisoned there. It was later converted into a civilian prison in 1947 and into a museum in 2010.

Church of Blessed "Saint" Sacrement

Inaugurated in 1905, Blessed "Saint" Sacrament Church combines Gothic and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

styles. Its architecture and unfinished bell tower were drawn by Louis Sainte-Marie-Perrin, architect of

. The church was originally designed to preach Christian values in an immoral working-class neighbourhood with a high poverty rate and a low number of baptizations. It has recently being added to a catholic school by AFAA architecture firm.

Garibaldi swimming pool

Garibaldi swimming pool became the first indoor and public swimming pool in Lyon when it opened in 1933. Designed by architect C.Colliard and engineer Camille Chalumeau in a typical

style, it was only built in a matter of months.

Transportation

La Part-Dieu is one of the main Lyon transportation hubs that includes : *a high speed, regional, national, international and freight train station currently saturated and undergoing renovation, that offers: **regional TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes rail lines to

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

, Valence, Roanne,

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

and

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

, and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

**national TER,

Intercités Intercités (IC), known before September 2009 as ''Corail Intercités'', is a brand name used by France's national railway company, the SNCF, to denote non High-speed rail in France, high-speed services on the classic rail network in France. The ...

and

lines to major French city centres such as Paris,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

and

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. **international high speed

rail lines to major European city centres such as

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(

( Lyria during summer or TER),

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(

AVE is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

( DB-

) and

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

(

Trenitalia Trenitalia Società per azioni, SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulati ...

), between 2 and 6 hours * Lyon-Saint-Exupéry International Airport and high speed rail station, in less than 30 minutes, thanks to the

Rhônexpress Rhônexpress () is an express tram-train service which links Lyon, France, with its main airport, Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport, and the TGV railway station located there. At its opening in 2010, it became one of the most expensive airport-to ...

tramway, with flights to more than 120 international destinations. *line of Lyon Métro * tramway lines ( ) * local bus and

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

lines (C1, C2, C3, C7, C13, 25, 37, 38 and 70) * regional bus lines to the northern part of

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

(T36 and X75) *a main coach station on Francfort Plaza * public bicycle sharing stations *some taxi and drop-off zones *a car rental parking lot *four large public car parks *main Lyon arteries (Cours Lafayette, Garibaldi street, Cours Gambetta, Thiers avenue and Vivier-Merle Boulevard) *4 tunnels easing urban flows and undergoing renovation (Vivier-Merle, Bonnel, Brotteaux and Servient) *major European and National highways, including A6, A7 and E15 "autoroutes" highways near Perrache and Lyon ring roads, in less than 20 minutes. *Central Lyon (historical

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

) by public transit, car or bike, in less than 10 minutes.

Education

La Part-Dieu hosts several private education schools, in particular the ISG and MBway

Business Schools A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...

, as well as the IPSA (

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

) and Sup'Biotech ( biotechnologies)

Engineering college Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( Dip.Eng.)and (B.Eng.) or ( M.Eng.), and any advanced education and specializations tha ...

La Part-Dieu 2030

Presentation of the project

Since the 2010s, La Part-Dieu has been undergoing a major transformation, after Lyon Metropolis launched an ambitious project in 2014 to renew the district thanks to a collaboration between La Part-Dieu Publicly-Owned Local development corporation (SPL) and the AUC architecture firm. The whole project is totalling around €2.5 billion between public and private investments.

Main objectives

La Part-Dieu 2030 project aims at preserving the district's

architectural heritage ''Architectural Heritage'' is an academic journal published by Edinburgh University Press on behalf of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland in November each year. It was founded in 1991. The journal focuses on architectural history an ...

and upgrading it for the 21st century. Modernization will satisfy current

office space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the office work life of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron ...

markets and spur economic development. Better integrated into the urban fabric and transit system, and with a strong focus on designing pleasurable residential and

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...

s, the project promotes the contemporary French way of life, on a European level. Main objectives consist of : *restoring and preserving the 20th century architectural heritage by forcing all new developments, including Tour Incity, to rhyme with the historical context and follow the distinct La Part-Dieu style, that consists mostly of repetitive, retrofuturistic and mineral patterns from the 1960s and 1970s. *offering an increased and contemporary tertiary market by renovating old buildings and constructing a wider variety of facilities of improved tertiary, residential and collective spaces, that contribute to economic drive. *strengthening its role as a transit hub and entrance to the Metropolis, by offloading the railway station through a larger and more suitable design and by rendering the city more pedestrian-friendly through new public spaces and optimized means of transport. *creating a living district promoting the French way of life by introducing ground floor shops and services along roads with significant pedestrian flow and by encouraging leisure activities, cultural and sporting events for adults and children, every day of the week at any time.

Completed projects

*Office space ** Tour Incity
Silex 1

Sky56

The 107

Rue Deruelle

Aprilium 2

Velum

Equinox

Terralta

Le Rephael

Carsat 2

Edison

Green Part Dieu

Crystallin
*Cultural space
City and Department Archives

Les Halles Carpark

Saint-Sacrement school
*Residential space
Bricks
**Sky Avenue **Brottier residence *Infrastructure **Garibaldi street **Place de Francfort **New car rental parking lot

Work in progress

*Multimodal Transport Hub **a railway station twice as large **L track addition **a new platform access route from Pompidou Avenue **a new Béraudier front gallery with commercial space and ticketing services directly connected to To-Lyon high-rise **a pedestrian area on Place Béraudier along with an underground transit hub aligned with shops, metro access and 1,500 bike spaces. Drop-off and parking lot zones will be located underneath it, next to a tunnel extension. *Buildings under construction **Tour To-Lyon will be an office, four-star hotel and services tower providing conference and trade shows, located beside the railway station and Béraudier Plaza, to be completed around 2023 by Dominique Perrault Architecture (170 m). It is currently under preparation, as hotels currently on site have been demolished. ** La Part-Dieu shopping mall is undergoing renovations according to a design by Winy Maas. Stated changes include the addition of large staircases to act as street extensions over the rooftop, which will be transformed into a green public space and offer views over the city. 1970s concrete-shell patterns will be repurposed over glass entrances and allow natural light to radiate inside the modernized interior spaces. More shops will be added. ** Silex2 is a contemporary 129-meter-tall extension crowned by a spire, leaned against an 80-meter-tall

high-rise from the 1970s. It is part of La Part-Dieu's modernization plan, since Tour EDF will be repurposed. Má Architects designed these larger office floorspaces to satisfy office space demand, and will deliver them by 2020. **Émergence Lafayette residential high-rise **Orange Campus office headquarters *Urban works **Nelson Mandela plaza extension **Vivier-Merle Boulevard transformation **Underground air-cooling facility to power air-conditioning systems

Future developments

*Bouchut street beautification and extension.

Proposed projects

*Skyscraper projects: **Swiss Life 2 launched by Swiss Life, possibly by 2025 (200m). **Tour M + M launched by DCB International and designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, possibly by 2030 (215m). **Milan Plaza (according to the AUC plan) includes several residential high-rises around Place de Milan (200m). *High-rise projects: **Sou Fujimoto Atelier, Dream Paris and EXNDO have proposed a 50m high-rise design with office and residential space, street-level shops and green rooftops, in lieu of the former Caisse d'Épargne headquarters, thanks to its reused materials, right next to Tour Oxygène. *Infrastructure projects: **Métro E line extension to La Part-Dieu **Greater Lyon rail bypass (CFAL) to alievate pressure on La Part-Dieu's rail node **Underground railway station

Key figures

*Between 400 and 600 planted trees in public spaces by 2022 *30 hectares of public spaces and roads created or developed *200,000 m² of added equipped spaces dedicated to services, trade, leisure and hotel industries *A railway station twice as large *2,500 new bike spaces *2,200 housing units added *40,000 jobs added *200,000 m² of added or renovated office space in high-rises or low-rises *A flexible office space market, ranging from 50 to 50,000 m² *A vacancy rate below 3%, 250,000 m² of which are used or agreed *650,000 m² of added office space, bringing the total office space to 1,650,000 m²

References

{{Authority control 3rd arrondissement of Lyon Financial districts in France Economy of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Quarters of Lyon