Angers, example of a sustainable city
Since 2007, "La boucle verte" [the green loop], a route of about ten kilometres
within a protected area provides pedestrians, cyclists and skaters with an easy way to reach
the large unspoiled open spaces on the outskirts of Angers.
In a few years, the city of the Pays de la Loire region has become a European benchmark in its treatment of environmental, economic and social issues, the three pillars of sustainable development.
Soft modes of transport
Taking action here and elsewhere
It was in order to rethink the city as it is now and invent the city of the future that Angers has committed itself resolutely, since the 1990s, to sustainable development, after decades of general uncontrolled urban growth.
In 1996, it put a lot of effort into drawing up an "Agenda for the 21st Century" which takes up the programme of actions discussed at the Earth Summit in Rio (1992). In 1999, it created a task force for sustainable development, then acquired low-polluting vehicles, inserted clauses related to the environment or social integration in public contracts, advocated ecological responsibility for public orders, began to manage its many green spaces without fertilizers or pesticides, and brought on stream the largest factory in Europe producing drinking water with an innovative process of ultrafiltration... In 2007, it opened the Grand Ouest regional centre for the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (D3E), which meets the needs of 27 départements and 14 million inhabitants.
Angers is one of the first cities in France to have adopted the HQE® (High Environmental Quality) certification procedure for the renovation or construction of municipal buildings. This scheme, which reconciles comfort and control of energy expenditure, has been applied notably in the maintenance centre for the tram system. Tomorrow, the energy used by a pollution control station will be produced on site from solar panels and the methanisation of sludge. Three districts, comprising 10,000 new dwellings, have also been certified with the HQE® label.
"Embankments for strolling":
the huge project to redevelop
the banks of the Maine
Soft modes of transport
Situated at the confluence of four small rivers and a major river, the Loire, Angers is actively preparing to win back its banks, occupied since the 1970s by a motorway that cuts the city in two. Major urban development work is being combined with the development of public transport systems and soft modes of transport.
Whilst awaiting the opening of the first tram line in 2009, the people of Angers can already borrow one of the 1,000 bicycles made available to them free of charge. An opportunity to explore the city’s exceptional environment, from medieval castle to natural areas. It only takes a few minutes to get from the city centre to the Ile Saint-Aubin and its 600 hectares of flood plain, a sanctuary for migratory water birds.
Taking action here and elsewhere
Aware that sustainable development does not stop at respect for the environment but also requires the support of the population, Angers has developed the habit of consulting its inhabitants on projects that affect their daily lives.
Finally, for the last thirty years, Angers has devoted 0.5 % of its annual investment budget to a very practical partnership with the town of Bamako, in Mali: a first in France which is making possible fruitful cooperation in matters of environment and training, but also in the spheres of water, drainage and waste treatment.
Emmanuel Thévenon
Journalist
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