City planning related to the completion of the new high speed line in Rennes, Brittany

Romaric Nègre,Guy Baudelle

doi:10.4000/belgeo.18122

Abstract

Over the last decades, the metropolitan area of Rennes (Western France) has experienced a sharp demographic and economic dynamism compared with other similar French urban areas. The new high-speed line between Le Mans and Rennes (hereafter BPL HSL) to be opened in 2017 is carrying major expectations from local public actors. In this paper, we examine urban projects associated with the high-speed line in Rennes as tangible spatial expressions of a global prospective vision for Rennes post-BPL HSL. Analyzing the main factors explaining the vibrancy of the metropolitan area, we focus on the territorial positioning of Rennes and its attempts to capture the “HSL opportunity” and accelerate the current pace of socioeconomic dynamism. However, such an urban growth strategy introduces a sharp competition in the new office market between central projects and peripheral investments.

Highlights

29 Anticipation and support strategies to value the HSL opportunity implemented by Rennes public actors are hardly dissociable from a comprehensive metropolitan project in which the high-speed infrastructure is only one piece of a large puzzle
The Bretagne-Pays de la Loire high-speed line (BPL HSL) has sounded like a profound trigger for the reorientation of Rennes strategy and a catalyser for a common vision (Terrin, 2011) – what Bérion (1998) would call the participatory effects of a new transport infrastructure
The approval on the “2020 Urban Community Program” has led local institutions to shift their territorial focus towards Europe, putting forward local socio-environmental amenities and distinctive economic assets such as ICT, agro-food industry and R&D ecosystem. It aims at enhancing the reach and clarity of the local economic potential (AUDIAR, 2012)

Summary

Revue belge de géographie

City planning related to the completion of the new high speed line in Rennes, Brittany. La concurrence inattendue entre projets publics en centre-ville et opérations privées en périphérie

Romaric Nègre and Guy Baudelle

Introduction

The unanticipated competition from peripheral office locations

Findings

Conclusion