Aerial View of Nantes, France

Image by Canva

Aerial View of Nantes, France

Nantes Metropolis

Bringing together 24 municipalities, Nantes Métropole is home to 677,879 inhabitants (as of 2021). Situated on the Loire River, close to the Atlantic coast, Nantes Métropole is a green gem of western France with a temperate oceanic climate. It is France’s sixth-largest city, lying on a fractured and partially altered crystalline basement, with fractures and alluvial deposits linked to the Loire River and its tributaries. The terrain is low-lying (Presentation Report, Volume 1, PLUm, 2019).

The Loire River, the longest river in France, has played a key role in the city's history and development. In the past, the economy was driven by shipyards and the maritime industry. Today, Nantes has undergone profound and sometimes challenging transformations, creating opportunities to redevelop large urban areas while protecting the fragile ecosystems of the Loire estuary.

As a demographically and economically dynamic metropolis, Nantes experienced significant urban sprawl in the second half of the 20th century. Over the past fifteen years, there has been a strong political commitment to achieving land-use efficiency and following a Zero Net Artificialisation trajectory. Nantes Métropole’s Climate Plan provides a framework for combating global warming, with a focus on developing low-energy transport and buildings. Natural and agricultural areas make up 57% of the Nantes conurbation, which also boasts 250 kilometres of rivers and streams. The city aims to preserve this natural environment while promoting balanced and sustainable development across the region.

  • Urban sprawl management: The city aims to limit urban expansion and focus on developing projects within existing urban areas.

  • Balancing housing development with environmental preservation: While controlling urban growth and protecting natural spaces are strategic priorities, future population projections necessitate an increase in housing availability.

  • Soil pollution and degradation: Addressing soil contamination and improving soil quality remain key challenges.

  • Integrating soil depth into urban planning: Soil depth has been considered in planning for several years and will play a key role in the upcoming revision of urban planning documents by the end of the decade.

  • Nantes Métropole is committed to achieving no net land take and zero degradation by implementing soil desealing strategies and protection measures.

  • The city is promoting the use of soil knowledge to develop sustainable land-use strategies at both territorial and local scales.

  • A comprehensive soil management plan is being developed, ensuring that soil quality, availability, and multifunctionality are integrated into planning processes.

As a SPADES pilot, Nantes Métropole aims to enhance soil restoration while embedding a long-term vision for sustainable land-use planning. The project is led primarily by the community planning service, with planned collaboration with other stakeholders. The pilot will work in synergy with the national PermePolis R&D project, which seeks to develop a methodology for co-designing desealing strategies at territorial scales, considering differences in local stakeholder perspectives and uncertainties in soil data.