The annual ULI France 2021 conference on the theme “Paris La Défense, Should I Stay or Should I go?” took place on Thursday, November 18 in the Paris La Défense Arena.

The event brought together more than 200 participants around 10 major players in the real estate and urban sectors, who were invited to share their views and experiences in the face of the major challenge of reinventing business districts around the world, and in particular Paris La Défense.

After the welcoming words of Sébastien Chemouny, President of ULI France, and Head of France at Allianz Real Estate, François Trausch, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ULI France, presented his views. François Trausch, CEO and CIO of Allianz Real Estate, put the Paris La Défense business district in perspective with other global business districts (Hudson Yards in New York, Marina Bay in Singapore, Shinjuku in Tokyo and Canary Wharf in London) and shared his convictions with five areas of improvement for a “refurbishment” i.e. create an axis for bicycles and pedestrians in order to privilege soft mobility; make the district greener; propose more mixed uses of the buildings; put forward culture and art and finally, think of a new private governance of the place, facing international competitors and “make users want to stay in the district to increase its attractiveness”. La Défense is the central place of business activities, shaking up the certainties of planners, developers, investors or architects who manage the spaces.

The first round table, moderated by Marc Lhermitte, Partner EY on “Paris La Défense and the major business districts facing their users and their users with ” with Tamara Brisk, Founder and Director of Mokki, Philippe Chiambaretta, Architect, Founder PCA-Steam, Katayoune Panahi, Director SNCF Immobilier and Pierre-Yves Guice, General Manager Paris La Défense.

The second round table, moderated by Christel Zordan, Managing Director of Société de la Tour Eiffel with Isabelle Clerc, Director of Investment Real Estate AG2R La Monde, Bruno Donjon de Saint Martin, Executive Managing Director Offices and Investment Europe URW Unibail Rodamco Westfield, Grégory Frapet, President Primonial REIM France and Xavier Musseau, President of Hines France, developed the expectations of investors and developers in Paris La Défense, with the need to transform the district by focusing in particular on the attractiveness of this area for young professionals, and working on the mix of rates to other types of services will bring a profound transformation to the business district in several years.

Elisabeth Laville, Founder and Director of Utopies, finally invited us to reflect on the future of the business district and the transition to a territory, and shared the work and commitments of Paris La Défense on their raison d’être, ie PARIS LA DÉFENSE IS COMMITTED TO EXPERIMENT AND MAKE POSSIBLE NEW MODES OF LIVING, WORKING, CITY MAKING – AND THUS BECOME THE FIRST POST-CARBON BUSINESS DISTRICT OF WORLD SIZE, and the commitment around 4 pillars: building in a post-carbon world, living together in a post-carbon world, engaging the post-carbon movement and engaging stakeholders.

Sébastien Chemouny closed the conference and participants continued their exchanges over a cocktail.

Find the podcasts of the speakers below:
– Stéphane Fadda – Aptiv.io
– Jeanne Gang – Studio Gang Architects
– Victor Carreau – Comet Meetings
– Christophe Burckart – IWG
– Michel Desvigne – Architecte Paysagiste
– Nicolas Lutgé – Scaprim Asset Management.
– Vincent Lazzaroni – Interface
– Jade Francine – We Maintain

Find below the slides of Elisabeth Laville, UTOPIES : ElisabethLaville_ULI_18nov