
Lille Metropole
where Northwest Europe meets
Where north western Europe meets
Lille Metropole is perfectly situated at the crossroad of Northwest Europe, between Brussels (35min by train), Paris (1h) and London (1h20) and within three to four hours from Amsterdam, Strasbourg or Frankfurt. This ideal position, at the heart of a rich and densely populated (80 M people) basin is a huge economical asset for Lille Metropole.
A cross-border eurometropolis
It is also sharing 86 km of border with its Belgian neighbour, making it an essential partner as evidenced by the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropole, one of the first and largest EGTC (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation) in Europe with 2 millions inhabitants.
A large urban and rural metropole
Lille Metropole encompasses 95 municipalities and 1.1 million inhabitants in a territory that is both rural and urban, made up of cities like Lille (230,000 inhabitants), Roubaix and Tourcoing (100,000 each) and smaller towns and villages. Due to this broad diversity of territories, the metropolitan authority is confronted with a variety of challenges regarding urban development, use of land and environmental protection, employment and social inclusion, housing, mobility, food or culture.

2nd university
centre in France
3 museums
ranking among the 10 best in France
35 %
under 25 years old

A strong and plural identity
Lille Metropole is an area that is both urban and rural where nature and agriculture mix with industry and high tech, where art and architecture mix with digitalization, where culture reaches all neighborhoods. It is a very dynamic hub, home to many science and technology parks such as Eurasanté, one of the major hospital and health research centres in Europe. Moreover, its economy rests upon historical and innovative business sectors whose built heritage legacy now houses successful incubators for startups like Euratechnologies. The designation of Lille Metropole as World Design Capital 2020 is another proof of the territory's capacity to reinvent itself by using design and creative methodologies to drive its economic, social, environmental and urban development.
A vibrant and young city
With one of the youngest population in France, Lille Metropole is also endowed with some of the best universities and engineering and business colleges counting more than 110,000 students. Therefore, the wide cultural offering, the museums and their prestigious collections, the exceptional sporting events and the numerous innovative hubs keep reinforcing the urban region's attractivity. Lille Metropole provides Europe with the best assets it has to offer and moves each day forward to lead to future benefits for its companies and inhabitants.
Lille Metropole & the European Union
Lille Metropole has been strongly committed in the European project for many years.
Its designation as the European Capital of Culture for 2004 triggered off a new cultural, economic and social momentum enhancing its long industrial transition.
A solid cross-border cooperation with its Belgium neighbours, embodied since 2009 by Lille / Kortrijk / Tournai Eurometropole, the management of a large ERDF funded ITI (integrated territorial investment), or its partnership in different European projects (Civitas, Interreg, Erasmus +, UIA, ...) are strong signals of its European commitment, which was reinforced in 2017 with the creation of its Brussels based EU Office.
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Lille Metropole European territorial Cooperation
Lille Metropole has always been deeply involved in the European project and has always been keen on cooperating with the European institutions as well as with other European cities and regions.
Moreover, Lille Metropole European commitment has been greatly enhanced in 2018 with the creation of its permanent delegation in Brussels which represents Lille Metropole interests to the European Union and broaden Lille Metropole European influence and cooperation possibilities.
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Lille Metropole EU Office
Since 2018, Lille Metropole EU Office has been connecting Lille Metropole administration, municipalities and local partners with the EU Institutions, and the whole Brussels EU bubble: city networks, thematic EU representations, European cities and regions EU offices.
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08/01/2021Recovering dredged canal sediments for public worksSEDIMEL, an innovative ERDF funded project which experiments the recovery of sediments as new raw materials for public works, in a green and circular way.
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06/01/2021Accelerating Lille Metropole digital transitionIn the view to nurture its strategy, Lille Metropole invited Khalil ROHANNA, deputy Director General at DG CNCT, to share insights in the new european digital policies, during the ICC Launch event.
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06/01/2021POC Awards: World Design Capital 2020The best design projects during Lille Metropole’s World design capital 2020 were rewarded during the POC awards.
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29/12/2020Large investment plan for public transportationTo decarbonize public transport and ensure accessibility for all, Lille Metropole will be investing more than 2 billion euros in the next 10 years to develop public transport infrastructures.
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29/12/2020ViaID, a business accelerator for mobility start-upsBased in Lille Metropole, ViaID has supported numerous successful mobility start-ups to develop in France and worldwide.
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11/12/2020Cycling boomCycling was growing in Lille Metropole at a rapid pace (+67% between 2015 and 2018) in the recent years but since June 2020, it has been booming.
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11/12/2020Raising awareness of children on ecomobility and safety🚲 🛴 🏃 Lille Metropole has produced a booklet « on the road to school » for children from 6 to 10 years old in order to help raise their awareness on ecomobility and road safety.
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11/12/2020Picto access: in favour of an inclusive mobility for allSince 2018, Lille Metropole has been partnering with Picto Access to promote the accessibility of public spaces and buildings.
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13/11/2020The “Sustainable Housing for Inclusive and Cohesive Cities project”, led by the city of Lille, wins a Regiostars awardThe SHICC, an Interreg North-West Europe project, led by the city of Lille, won the 2020 Regiostars award in the category “Citizens’ engagement for cohesive cities”.
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13/11/2020The winners of the Circular Fashion Awards 2020The Circular Fashion Awards ceremony took place on October 16th, during an online ceremony attended by 1500 people, revealing the 9 rewarded projects
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13/11/2020Conference on tackling energy povertyOn Monday 19th of October, Lille Metropole in collaboration with Brussels-Capital Region, Ghent, Vienna and Greenovate Europe organized a conference on cities policies tackling energy poverty.
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13/11/2020World Design Capitals’ declaration for design-led transition in citiesThe World Design Capitals and the partners of Lille Metropole agree on a joint declaration in favor of the transformation of our territories and public policies through design.