Marseille, a story of renaissance
The "Terrasses du port" project is designed to create a "city space" above the port area.
This complex, comprising a parade of shops, promenades, cafés, restaurants, swimming pool
and 10,000 m2 of terraces, is due to be completed in 2010 and should eventually generate nearly 2000 jobs.
For a long time Marseille was at the centre of all trade between France and the countries of the South, from North Africa to the Far East. The removal of the port to a neighbouring site and the decline in traditional industries (soap-making, oil, etc.) had led to a decline in economic activity and the decay of the city centre. But over the last few years Marseille has been revitalised through the Euroméditerranée project.
Initiated in 1995, Euroméditerranée affects the districts surrounding the old port, an area of 300 hectares in the east of the city. This huge operation covers redevelopment, job creation, housing development and cultural activities to make Marseille a leading economic and cultural centre once more.
In place of the abandoned warehouses, office blocks are now rising, such as the building occupied by the head office of CMA-CGM, the world’s third biggest shipping group, constructed by British architect Zaha Hadid. Here there are now loft apartments and luxury flats in a district where no developer had invested for thirty years. The old factories in the Belle-de-Mai district are now home to France’s second largest television and multimedia centre; in 2008 the old grain silos will become a 2,200 seat performance venue; a museum of the Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean will open in 2010; while the old docks host international cultural events, such as the Fiesta des Suds and the Babel Med Music festival. To date, 150,000 m2 of offices, 1,300 homes (half of which are social housing) and 6,000 jobs have been created and 700 businesses have set up here.
Near Marseille port, the restored
docks now house offices,
apartments and businesses.
Spectacular transformations
"I am struck by the spectacular transformations I am seeing which have already been achieved since 1998, and all those that are planned", acknowledges Guy Gensollen, president of the Cité des Entrepreneurs, which rallies the support of Marseille businesses for the project. "Euroméditerranée is in the process of achieving the revival of Marseille", explains Renaud Muselier, deputy mayor and president of the project.
The city has become a huge building site, with the city centre being renovated, a tramway constructed and tunnels and viaducts easing traffic flow. Ultimate proof of this renewed dynamism is that Marseille, now three hours from Paris by TGV (high speed train), is attracting tens of thousands of new residents every year, who are choosing a city on the move ... as much as the Mediterranean sun.
Nadia Khouri-Dagher
Journalist
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