SITUATION

When you fly direct from New York to Paris or Berlin there’s a good chance that Nantes is the first city in Europe you fly over.

Located in the west of the continent in the Loire estuary, as a port city Nantes has always been able to make the most of its geographic location to connect to major international exchange channels. It is located at the centre of the Atlantic arc, which covers 32 regions, 20% of European territory and 57 million inhabitants.

40 minutes from the Atlantic beaches
Thanks to the TGV, Nantes is now only two hours from Paris and its international airport provides connections to major European capitals.
The city’s economic influence now extends to all of France's Atlantic front and its 8 million inhabitants.
It provides its visitors and inhabitants with unrivalled quality of life, 40 minutes from the Atlantic beaches, one hour from the Loire valley and
two hours from St Malo, La Rochelle or Paris.

61% of undeveloped surfaces
Greater Nantes extends over 523 km² and has seen significant urban development: the areas developed over the last thirty years represent the equivalent of all the areas conquered by man since the city was created. Yet it still manages to conserve significant development potential since 61% of the territory is made up of undeveloped surfaces, one of the highest rates among large French urban areas.

The 5th largest metropolitan area in France
Nantes is planning to use its urban development, travel and consistent and reasonably-dense business and housing area policy to limit the effects of urban spread to preserve the territory’s quality of life while ensuring its development at the same time.
Like Bremen, Greater Nantes and its advance port Saint-Nazaire form a coherent metropolitan area of 760 000 residents – the 5th largest metropolitan area in France – and is an economic territory with complementary centres.