Cité 2025:
A major urban and landscaping project

A new development plan

The interlocking of land belonging to three different owners (the City of Paris, the Chancellery of the Paris Universities, and the State), together with the construction of the ring road in the 1960s, had prevented new residences from being built after 1969.

A framework land agreement signed in 2011 between the State, the City of Paris, the Chancellery, and the Cité internationale made it possible to enter a new construction phase to host students and researchers from around the world. Under this agreement, the City of Paris transferred 16,000 m² of land in full ownership to the State. In return, the City was able to create housing for researchers in the Victor Lyon Residence, of which it had become the landlord, and was given 61 reservation rights in future constructions. Meanwhile, the State transferred several roadway sites, partly located on the ring road, to the City.

The 2013 tripartite convention between the City of Paris, the Chancellery, and the Cité internationale set and approved the main guidelines for the development plan. Under this convention, the Cité internationale was the project’s prime contractor, whose main goal was to make the plots designated for ten new houses buildable, while also expanding and requalifying the park to enhance its landscape structure and revitalize its uses.
The preparatory infrastructure works and studies were financed through “Campus Plan” funds provided by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Project owner of the development project

The master plan, drawn up by EXP Architectes, had served as the framework for a consultation launched in late June 2013 to entrust a multidisciplinary team with two main missions: the landscape, urban and architectural project management for the overall site, and the architectural coordination of the new housing programs.
Following a restricted European call for tenders involving several renowned architects, the Bruno Fortier / TN+ group was selected by the Cité internationale as the project’s lead designer. The EPAURIF, which coordinated all the works, had played a decisive role.

The main orientations

The winning team had confirmed in its proposal the main orientations of the master plan, whose ideas had been adapted, reinterpreted, or expanded. Each park sector (the gardens, the grand mall, and the park surrounding the central lawn) had been enhanced through large‑scale interventions that, under the concept of an “urban forest,” reinforced the Cité internationale’s impact and role within Greater Paris.
The park’s ecological corridor function had been strengthened, both east‑west and north‑south. Other guidelines had been explored to highlight the park’s southern edge, where the new buildings were concentrated: the gable façades facing the ring road were treated as “paintings,” turning the new residences into a cohesive composition reflecting the Cité’s identity. The development project restored the original design by re‑establishing the north‑south balance and reuniting the campus’s eastern and western parts.
The works, which began in 2016, took place in two phases:

• 2016‑2018: servicing of building plots, modernization of sports facilities, and improvement of connections between the eastern and western areas;

• 2019‑2020: extension and requalification of the park.