[Technical Cooperation Buenos Aires] Study visit by an Argentinian delegation to Lyon and Paris

Officials from the City Council of Buenos Aires visited France from 4 to 8 July as part of the technical cooperation programme (FEXTE fund) in place since April 2021 between the French Development Agency, CODATU and the City Council of Buenos Aires. The purpose of this study trip, organised by the CODATU team, was to present the French experiences in the fields of transitional urban planning, development of public spaces, active mobility and intermodality.

The cities of Paris and Lyon were chosen to host the delegation. They are the two largest metropolitan areas in France and present complex socio-urban challenges to which the public authorities are responding with original tools as part of an ambitious urban and mobility policy.

The Argentine delegation was made up of six members, two from each of the technical departments with which CODATU works specifically: the City Housing Institute (IVC), the Ministry of Public Space and Urban Hygiene (MEPeHU), and the Secretariat of Transport and Public Works (SECTOP).

The week was organised around field visits and meetings with the public and private actors and associations in charge of urban and mobility projects.

The meeting with Ile-de-France Mobilités in Paris and SYTRAL in Lyon (the organising authorities for mobility in these two cities) allowed the delegation to discuss how they operate and the issues they face. They presented their areas of expertise, their vision for the evolution of mobility and the levers at their disposal (financial, operational, etc.) to develop sustainable and accessible mobility in their territories.

The walking and cycling tours in Paris, Montreuil and Lyon provided an opportunity to see the achievements and objectives of the Cycling Plans in situ (tour of the active modes tunnel in Lyon, and the temporary and now permanent corona bike lanes on Rue de Rivoli in Paris and Avenue Gabriel Péri in Montreuil). On this occasion, the delegation also visited several public space developments such as the renovation of Place de la Bastille, which now gives more space to active modes of transport, and the tactical urban planning interventions in the streets of Montreuil.

Five temporary urban planning sites, including the Gratte-Ciel project in Villeurbanne and the Village Reille in Paris, were also explored. This is an innovative approach aimed at developing a site on a temporary basis pending the development of a long-term urban project. The objective of the majority of the third places visited was to implement activities that strengthen social ties, enabling local residents or different population groups to meet, as well as promoting access to peaceful, green spaces in the city. Details regarding the institutional set-up of this type of project, and in particular the role of the social landlord, were requested by the Argentine delegation with a view to the potential replicability of these initiatives in Buenos Aires.

The participants were very satisfied with the outcome of the study trip. The meeting with this network of French urban and mobility stakeholders and with the reality of French projects may contribute to providing new tools in the daily work of the Argentinian team, as well as in the follow-up of studies that will be financed in Buenos Aires within the framework of technical cooperation.