European cities’ economy by 2040: what “possible futures”?

The French Interministerial Delegation for Territorial Development and Regional Attractiveness (DATAR) has asked a group of experts and university professors to prepare a forward-looking approach named ‘Territory 2040’. The purpose of the request is not to see what France will look like in the future – prospective is no longer considered as a predictive science – but to shine a spotlight on various processes and possible actions, and take ideas to their logical conclusions to see where we might end up. So DATAR has decided to have groups work on different types of territories (metropolises, peri-urban areas, rural zones, ports, air transport hubs, etc.).

This dossier takes a look at scenarios used by the ‘metropolises’ group led by Gilles Pinson, political science professor at the IEP (Political sciences institute) in Lyon. These scenarios are based on the logical development of certain actions now in progress in our metropolises. The objective is not to show the possible future of metropolises, but to make people aware of the possible effects of actions taking place right before our eyes, and to invite society, major economic actors and political leaders to regulate or if necessary modify those actions. Each of the scenarios has been ‘illustrated’ with a fictional story included in the ‘case studies’ section.