You have signed the agreement on Action Coeur de Ville with many partners towards the end of 2018. Could you introduce your programme and the actions resulting from it?

Vitré is one of those so-called “medium-sized” cities that have a centrality function for their catchment area and a regional influence. Vitré defends its role as an indispensable link in the structuring of the regional territory, between rural areas and large cities.

The program “Action Coeur de Ville” represents an opportunity to build the future on diverse topics such as economy, heritage, culture and social. This dossier creates territorial dynamics seeing as it is developed in consultation and partnership with the elected representatives of the territory, as well as with the economic, technical and financial actors. Accordingly, “Action Coeur de Ville” will allow to give our city back the place it deserves within the framework of a renewed cohesion policy of the territories. It will especially enhance the attractiveness of the city centre both on housing supply and on the economic and commercial dynamics. It will also attract visitors, create collective well-being, and develop service offering.

To achieve these objectives, the master agreement “Action Coeur de Ville” consists of 5 axes:

• Axe 1 – From rehabilitation to restructuring: towards an attractive offer of housing in the city centre;
• Axe 2 – Promote balanced economic and business development;
• Axe 3 – Develop accessibility, mobility and connections;
• Axe 4 – Highlight urban forms, public space and heritage;
• Axe 5 – Provide access to public facilities and services.

Many actions will be implemented, some of which will be preceded by studies.

In terms of studies, it will of course be necessary to return to the current and potential uses that are almost inevitably linked to the development of digital technology. Studies will, of course, focus on housing, commerce, tertiary development, marketing strategy…

In terms of actions, we can only mention a few of them spread over 5 axes:

• Technical support, the leasing of vacant units and the fight against unworthy habitats, the mobilization of financing mechanisms, work commitment on the buildings which we have identified as priorities…
• Working on the global commercial dynamics of the city centre (creation of a commercial nursery, pop-up shops, animations…)
• Improvements to promote access to the city centre (signposting, pedestrian paths, intermodalities, green lanes, bus stops…), creation of meeting points…
• Renovation and enhancement of our heritage assets (castles, religious monuments, implementation of luminous pathways…), creation of playgrounds, development of urban biodiversity, urban densification, new urban furniture…
• Development of a “health centre” and an out-of-hours service in the heart of the city, creation of a public service house, installation of Wi-Fi terminals, development of digital services while making sure not to exclude anything…

Who are the actors? Who are the beneficiaries? And who provides the funding?

This program “Action Coeur de Ville” must allow, by a global and coordinated approach between the actors, the creation of efficient conditions for the renewal and development of Vitré. Each party has made its commitments:

• The community is committed to mobilizing the necessary human and financial resources to ensure the steering and implementation of the programme.
• The funding partners undertake to draw up the project and action proposals, and to mobilize their resources for the realization of actions within their field of intervention.
• The State undertakes to lead the network of programme partners, to designate within its services a departmental coordinator and a regional coordinator to study the possible co-financing of the actions.
• The Regional Council of Brittany undertakes to mobilize local projects within its teams, elected representatives and services. To include this project in its public policies, and to participate in governance bodies.
• Bank of the Territories proposes to contribute to the effective implementation of the Action Coeur de Ville programme by mobilizing means covering engineering, operational expertise, innovations… It also undertakes to offer loans and subsidies around renovation projects.
• Action Logement finances social housing operators or private investors who carry out a project to revitalize the city centre and rebalance the urban and peri-urban tissue. Priority will be given to rental apartment offers for employees and young, mobile workers; this contributes to social mixing. Priority will also be given to the old park’s energy renovation policy.
• ANAH undertakes to co-finance the post of project manager of Action Coeur de Ville, housing-related study expenses as well as the follow-up and animation of the programs put in place. It also assists in the realization of works for the rehabilitation, energy improvement and adaptation of housing and buildings.
• EPF Bretagne is committed to supporting the community from a technical, administrative and legal point of view for the operations of its project that require the public control of land holdings; acquisition and land piggybacking necessary for the operational implementation (works, depollution / deconstruction…).
• The Departmental Council of Ille-et-Vilaine is committed to human and territorial solidarities to mobilize local engineering, and to participate in governance bodies.
• The Association “Sites et Cités Remarquables de France” will accompany the city of Vitré in the consideration of the remarkable Heritage Site as part of the living environment and structuring element of the convention.
• The territorial actors: CCI, CMA, MEEF, Vitré Atout, social landlords, undertake to mobilize their engineering, to facilitate the implementation of actions, to participate in governance bodies and to participate in the evaluation of the programme.

You have already initiated projects in that sense; could you give us a feedback regarding the most advanced ones?

• Axe 1 – From rehabilitation to restructuring: towards an attractive offer of housing in the city centre

• Launch of the OPAH RU study led by Urbanis
• Consideration of the ORT perimeter
• Accompanying private / public project promoters in their efforts to rehabilitate vacant housing in the city centre (AMO- to help with financing requests to facilitate the project, support for the city with the help of FIH and FRP…)
• Project management and works on the degraded buildings of the Coeur de Ville accompanied by Urbanis AMO
• Strategic study on the social real estate heritage of the City and CCAS

• Axe 2 – Promote balanced economic and business development

• Launch of the strategic commercial study on the citywide level and focus on downtown Vitré
• Consideration of the establishment of commercial nurseries in the city centre participating in its revitalization

• Axe 3 – Develop accessibility, mobility and connections

• Creation of a meeting point on street Duguesclin

• Axe 5 – Provide access to public facilities and services

• Establishment of digital luminous pathways marking out all the heritage of the city centre
• Reception at the musée du château
• Redevelopment of Château Marie
• Maintenance of an out-of-hours medical service in the city centre