The Cité internationale universitaire de Paris is a unique institution in the French academic and institutional landscape. It is run by a private-law entity, the Fondation nationale Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, which was recognised as a public utility by the decree of the 6th of June 1925. The Universities of Paris are the property owners of the buildings. This is why the Cité internationale is an asset to the international attractivity of the Parisian and Île-de-France Universities. It supports their international policy by proposing a personalised welcome to their international students and researchers.
The Cité internationale is both a campus and a political policy project. A campus where young people from all over the world get together and study in a fantastic setting at the heart of the Parisian metropolis. It’s also an attractive international project available to Île-de-France universities. This double face makes it an exceptional tool for French academia.
Imagined in 1925 in the context of the pacifist movement in the interwar period by exceptional figures, the goal of the Cité internationale was to create a place dedicated to international exchanges where the youth of the world could learn to live together and, upon returning to their home country, would maintain long-lasting and positive friendships between people of different nationalities. The Cité internationale was built upon strong values: tolerance, solidarity, dialogue between cultures and peace.
The Cité internationale universitaire de Paris has always been a pioneer when it comes to international mobility and welcoming international students and researchers. For nearly 20 years, it has been developing personalised welcome services, dealing with all questions concerning mobility and the integration of international students and researchers regardless of whether or not they are campus residents. With the support of the City of Paris and the Île-de-France region, it has set itself the ambitious aim of developing a true “welcome culture”.
A scaled-down model of the world, the Cité internationale offers a reservoir of arts on the art of cultivating the seeds of peace, cooperation and tolerant between nations. As a model for campus life, it brings together all of the services likely to encourage the development of students and researchers by combining personal and collective spaces, places for life and for work and sport and cultural activities.
At the Cité internationale, everything is done to support academic success. A wide range of services is available to residents (libraries, auditorium, language lab, coworking, theatre, choir, artist workshops, music studios, stadiums, swimming pool, tennis courts, gymnasium…).
Around 1000 cultural events are organised every year in the houses. They are important welcome spaces and places for the dissemination of intellectual, artistic, academic and international cultural productions. The events organised by the houses are an occasion to bring the Cité’s values to life and to open the campus up to the public.
The residents of Cité internationale form a committed community. By their own initiatives and the collaborative, civic and solidarity-based projects they carry out in their houses, they bring to life the values of the Cité internationale’s founders on a daily basis. Thanks to the mix of nationalities and disciplines, students multiply encounters, exchanges and creations.
The Cité internationale has an exceptional architectural heritage that is emblematic of the 20th and 21st centuries with 43 houses constructed since 1925. Regionalist, classic, modern or durable, these houses , constructed by renowned architects, offer a diversity of styles that is unique to Paris. From Foujita to Jacobsen and even Perriand, numerous masterpieces have been also created by painters, sculptors, famous designers…
The second park in Paris, the Cité internationale park was designed by Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier, then Léon Azéma, in the 1930s in collaboration with the campus architect Lucien Bechmann. Spanning 34 hectares, it is one of southern Paris’ green lungs. It favours the preservation of rare flora and fauna within Paris itself thanks to its ecological management style for over 10 years
The Cité internationale is now undergoing a historic development phase. 10 new houses will be constructed on campus from 2025 and all of its services will be modernised as part of the Digital City plan. These houses respect the Cité internationale’s special features which reflect its values of peace, openness and solidarity.
Conceived after the First World War, the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris brings together young talents from all over the world in one place. By promoting living together, exchanges and understanding of a rich and complex world, it contributes to raising awareness and making sense of the world. The Cité internationale’s commitments are based on three pillars: encouraging mobility of the world’s youth and access to knowledge, promoting solidarity and humanist values and acting for a sustainable world.
The Cité internationale universitaire de Paris was born of the generosity of major donors in 1925. Even today, the Cité internationale lives on patronage thanks to the support of its donors and companies who are committed to making sense of the world and enabling its residents to study in optimal conditions. Encouraging access to knowledge and mobility for the world’s youth, promoting solidarity and humanist values and acting for a sustainable world are the major challenges that the Cité internationale has set itself.