Regional regeneration operation (ORT)

April 2024

Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires (ANCT)

To download : guide_operations_revitalisation_territoires_ort_methodologie_redynamiser_centres-villes.pdf (2.7 MiB)

Created by the law on the evolution of housing, development and the digital economy (Elan) of 23 November 2018, the ORT is a new tool available to local authorities to support and implement a territorial project in the urban, economic and social fields, to fight as a priority against the devitalisation of town centres. The aim of the ORT is to improve the overall quality of a town centre by facilitating the renovation of housing, commercial and craft premises and, more generally, the urban fabric, in order to create an attractive living environment conducive to the long-term development of the area.

What does the ORT look like?

The ORT takes the form of an agreement signed by the intermunicipal authority, its principal town, other willing member towns, the State and its public establishments. Any public or private entity likely to provide support or take part in the operations set out in the agreement may also sign it.

An ORT is jointly managed by the intermunicipal authority and its principal town.

What are the advantages?

The ORT offers a wide range of tools to support a controlled regional project, with concrete and immediate benefits. Once the regional project has been defined by the elected representatives in conjunction with the State and the partners, the ORT agreement confers new legal and tax rights, in particular to :

• boost the attractiveness of town centre retail outlets by waiving the requirement for a business licence and allowing peripheral retail projects to be suspended on a case-by-case basis;

• encourage housing renovation by giving priority access to Anah grants and making older properties eligible for Denormandie*;

• facilitate projects through experimental schemes such as the innovation permit or the multi-site development permit;

better control over land, in particular by strengthening the urban right of pre-emption and the right of pre-emption in the case of craft premises.

What is an ORT agreement made up of?

An ORT agreement is a contractual document containing the following elements

• the duration, a minimum period of five years is recommended;

• the area of intervention, which must include the centre of the main town;

• the content and timetable of the actions planned, bearing in mind that an RTO necessarily includes actions to improve housing;

• the financing plan for the planned actions and their distribution within the defined intervention sectors;

• a local steering committee involving all the public and private partners concerned.

Drawing up the ORT

The ORT is aimed at any area wishing to embark on a regeneration project.

The 222 areas covered by the national Action cœur de ville programme will be able to quickly convert their existing agreements into ORT agreements.

It will also be easier to set up an ORT for the 53 municipalities that have won the town centre AMI award, and for towns benefiting from the new national urban renewal programme (NPNRU) and the national programme for the requalification of run-down old districts (PNRQAD).

Prefects, government departments and operators are mobilised to support local authorities in their efforts.

4 steps to building an ORT

• Define a revitalisation project for the area and the parties involved in the RTO.

• Specify the content of the agreement (duration, areas of intervention, timetable, funding and governance).

• Get the intermunicipal authority, the main town and even other volunteer towns to agree.

• Sign the ORT agreement with all the partners, then publish it.

Study and intervention perimeters

The area covered by the territorial strategy, which includes all or part of the inter-municipal area that is a signatory to the ORT agreement: this is the broad scale that will enable us to define the urban, economic and social revitalisation project on which the project to revitalise the heart of the conurbation is based.

The operational intervention sectors, one of which must include the town centre of the main town in the intercommunal area, which must host one or more of the actions included in the ORT.

Sources

To go further