
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.
(...)
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.
(...)
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.
(...)

-
25/11/2026Faubourg 132 and La Fraise finalists for the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2022In May 2022, Faubourg 132 and “La Fraise” were selected among 1100 European projects and were among the 52 finalists of the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2022.
-
25/11/2022Roubaix pilot city of the circular cities and regions initiativeRoubaix, one of the biggest city of Lille Metropole has been selected as a Pilot city of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) launched by the European Commission.
-
25/11/2022Highlights of our info session about the New European Bauhaus during the Europen Week of Regions and Cities 2022The Hauts-de-France Region, Bauhaus University of Weimar, the Silesia Region and Lille Metropole participated together in the 20th edition of the European Week for Regions and Cities.
-
25/11/2022“Circular Fashion Awards”: a European event organized in Lille Metropole!From November 14 to 27, 2022, Lille Metropole hosted the "Circular Fashion Fortnight" during which the European Circular Fashion Awards were presented
-
25/11/2022'Put Europe in your Projects’: raising awareness about the EUIn September 2021, Lille Metropole EU office in Brussels launched an internal Challenge called "Put Europe in your projects"
-
25/11/2022“Les Temporelles” 2022: time-based approach against climate changeLille Metropole organized Les Temporelles on September 22 on the following topic: "Time is running out, let's adapt our rhythms!”
-
11/07/2022Lille Metropole: a territory involved in the Olympic Games thanks to the "Land of Games 2024" labelLille Metropole is one of the territory that will host Olympic Games in 2024! The territory has already been promoting the Games for months through the “Land of Games 2024” label.
-
11/07/2022The National Meetings on Mobility Management 2022: a major event in Lille MetropoleMore than 200 people gathered in Lille Metropole on June 21 and 22 2022 to discuss challenges of tomorrow's mobility during the National Meetings on Mobility Management (RNMM).
-
11/07/2022Tour de France : a mythic sport event in Lille Metropole !On July 6th, Lille Metropole hosted the 5th stage of the 109th edition of the Tour de France. The riders started from the headquarters of Lille Metropole to Wallers - Arenberg.
-
11/07/2022Next Eurocities Culture Forum in Lille MetropoleThe city of Lille and Lille Metropole, are happy to host the Eurocities Culture Forum from 28 to 30 September 2022.
-
11/07/2022Designing fruitful cooperation for shaping the New European BauhausOn the 9th and 10th of June, Lille Metropole, the Hauts-de-France Region and their European partners organised a side event in the framework of the 1st New European Bauhaus (NEB) festival.
-
11/07/2022Lille Metropole awarded by BNR national LabelIn March 2022, Lille Metropole obtains the “Bibliothèques Numériques de Référence” (BNR) (Reference Digital Libraries) national label thanks to the Metropolitan Digital Libraries project.