In the great battle waged for a while by the territories to attract men, workers and consumers, the pandemic has brought an additional unknown. The “barometer of the attractiveness of French metropolises” by Arthur Loyd, a national business real estate consultancy network, logically questioned this year about the resilience in the regions faced with the crisis. The winners of this vast study on mobility are based on the analysis of 75 statistical criteria. Some are structural, measuring long-term changes, and others more cyclical, taking into account the impact of the shutdown of the economic machine caused by the Covid.
Good news, it turns out less strong than expected. The recovery did not take long, bringing in its wake an improvement in the labor market: in the first half of 2021, France experienced 430,000 net job creations, against 328,000 net destruction in 2020. And 102,000 additional jobs were created in relation to the situation before the pandemic. While some areas are still recovering, the engines of the upturn are still large cities, which in their wake lead to fairly close medium-sized towns. Thus, 23 departments hosting a large urban area account for 60% of net job creation in France in the first half of 2021.
The rebound capacity is found in particular on the Atlantic coast and in the south of France. The cards are therefore partly redistributed, observes Arthur Loyd: “The large metropolises will remain essential with the interactions they allow and the fact that they concentrate production, creation and innovation. But thanks to the development of teleworking, optical fiber and transport, we will no longer necessarily need to live there. It changes the game. "
Especially since the French take a positive view of cities on a human scale: they offer them an increase in purchasing power, in particular in real estate, and a better quality of life, just one or two hours from Paris. or not far from a regional metropolis… They therefore benefit from increased attractiveness. Arthur Loyd's barometer measures this power of seduction and compares it from one territory to another. Within the very large metropolises, exceeding one million inhabitants, the surprise this year comes from Bordeaux, which is ahead of Toulouse for the first time in the general classification, but also, more precisely, in terms of economic performance. It must be said that the pink city has suffered from the recession in aeronautics.
In the category of large metropolises, Nantes went from second position last year to first today thanks to its good economic performance. Grenoble progressed from 5th to 2nd place, resisting the crisis well to the point of improving on all points. Strasbourg climbs for the first time in the top three, in place of Montpellier which falls to 5th place. This is the result of solid foundations accumulated by the Alsatian city in quality of life, culture, higher education, health infrastructure, etc.
As for intermediate metropolises, Brest is making a breakthrough, while it occupied 3rd place last year and even 12th in 2018. Its strengths? Economic dynamism, advantageous tertiary real estate, as well as the price of housing for individuals. The Breton port has dethroned Tours, which still maintains good economic performance. Just like the 3rd city in this category, Clermont-Ferrand, which has solid fundamentals and has gained a rank compared to 2020.
Finally, medium-sized towns are not experiencing major upheavals, Valencia still winning pole position. It is true that it enjoys a strategic location, close to Lyon and connected in two hours by TGV to Paris. Nevertheless, it is not resting on its laurels and continues to improve its strengths, in particular economic performance, quality of life or the criterion "connectivity, human capital and innovation". Angoulême also asserts its comparative advantages, in particular vis-à-vis its large neighbor Bordeaux, by taking first place in the quality of life theme. This allows him to climb on the 2nd step to the detriment of Niort, less dynamic economically.
This year even more than the previous ones, the Arthur Loyd barometer shows that the regions conceal nuggets likely to attract newcomers, knowing that even before the spread of Covid-19, 230,000 people left the Paris region each year for go look somewhere else…
Three questions for… Cevan Torossian, Associate Director “Studies & Research” at Arthur Loyd
"Some cities stand out over time"
Despite the context, are any cities resisting in the lead over the 5 editions of your prize list?
Some do indeed stand out over time.
Among the sure values, Lyon is always first and affirms its European dimension.
In the category of medium-sized agglomerations, Valence also remains in the lead, combining quality of life, a pool of qualified employment and accessibility from Paris and Lyon.
Finally, Nantes is still on the podium of the big cities.
What do all these cities have in common?
TGV effect, improvement of the living environment, tertiarisation of the economy, sectors of excellence such as cybersecurity in Rennes or the image center in Angoulême, and pools of talents from higher education.
Does the voluntarism of communities to be attractive end up paying?
Yes, it is enough to observe Bordeaux, Rennes or Nantes.
However, even without a real proactive policy, the mere fact of being well served by trains can make a municipality attractive.
It is therefore imperative to organize efficient transport between large metropolises and intermediate-sized agglomerations, as is the case for the “cathedral cities”: Amiens, Reims, Chartres, etc.
Interview by SC