Toulouse, France
City population: 703385
Duration: 2004 – 2013
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: 700000 m2
Type of area: Residential
Last updated: November 2021

Andromeda is the first eco-district of Toulouse Métropole. Extended on the municipalities of Blagnac and Beauzelle, it brings together 210 hectares of green spaces, housing estates, residences and corporate offices. The district has been designed around the principles of sustainable development and the preservation of the environment (Ref. 1). The district includes a green corridor network, rainwater management systems (sumps, gutters, recovery tanks, landscaped basins, etc.), 12,000 trees, and the majority of buildings are equipped with green roofs, while green and blue spaces total 70ha and natural areas are 1/3 of the total area (Ref. 2, 3).

Green Space at the Andromède Ecodistrict
Green Space at the Andromède Ecodistrict
Photographer: Lydie Lecarpentier Thomas (www.lydie-photographe.fr), retrieved 08/28/2018 from Maxime Thomas

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature on buildings (external)
  • Green roofs
  • Green walls or facades
  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
  • Green corridors and green belts
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Community gardens
  • Green areas for water management
  • Sustainable urban drainage systems

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Climate change mitigation
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Waste management
  • Noise reduction
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Real estate development

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

The Andromède Ecodistrict aims to manage urban island heating, water, and provide public and private residential green spaces (Ref. 3). Landscaping development is overall based on three axes: water management, landscape integration and biodiversity, facilitated by a rich plant palette (Ref. 15). In relation to the priority of water management, the district has been equipped with different systems of rainwater management (sumps, gutters, recovery tanks, landscaped basins, etc.) and strictly limited the use of waterproof surfaces (Ref. 5). The space has also been built to facilitate the reduction of noise and waste pollution, while the project's large green corridor is meant to provide a necessary ecosystem to facilitate local biodiversity (Ref. 2). "The ambition is to support a strong demographic and economic development while ensuring wise and controlled use resources available" (Ref. 2).

Implementation activities

The urban development of Andromède Ecodistrict began in 2001 as part of the city's program to create zones for sustainable development, and in doing so appointed urban developer SEM Constellation (Ref. 3) which was later renamed in 2011 as Oppidea. (Ref. 6). The first residents settled into the area in 2009 (Ref. 10, 14). The landscapers for the project's public spaces Woodstock Paysage became involved in the implementation in 2004 before finishing in 2013 (Ref. 12). "The EcoQuartier repository is based on 20 commitments, divided into 4 dimensions: approach and process, living environment and uses, territorial development, environment and climate" (Ref. 16). "The whole Andromède district has been designed around sustainable development and the preservation of the environment. The residences and offices in the district have been designed to reduce the waste of resources, whether in terms of energy, water, etc." (Ref. 1).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature

Climate change mitigation:

  • Invest in public transport/bicycle infrastructure as a means to prevent car use

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
  • Promote environmentally-sound development in and around protected areas
  • Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity

Main beneficiaries

  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The project was licensed by Toulouse Métropole (Ref. 7). The developer of the project was Oppidea (formerly constellation), landscapers appointed for the project were Landscape Woodstock, while TGT was the project's urban planner (Ref. 2, 13).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (In 2014 (Ref. 2) the Andromède project met the objectives of building an eco-neighborhood in line with the French Ministry of Housing and Sustainable Housing (both in the development and in the construction of buildings) (Ref. 7).)
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Due to its importance, planning and transportation consistency and its launch comes in support of the development of an economic pole (aerospace), this project fully corresponds to a spatial development strategy in relation to the Sustainable Urban Development Plan for the northwest of the city (listed as "Charter Urbanism ZAC Andromeda") (Ref. 2, 17).)

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Unknown

Type of funding

  • Unknown

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Reduced emissions
  • Energy efficiency improvements
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved waste management
  • Reduced noise exposure
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Improved stormwater management
  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
  • Reduced biodiversity loss

Economic impacts

  • Reduce financial cost for urban management

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise

Type of reported impacts

Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

(1) Sporting Village. [no date]. Découvrez l’éco-quartier Andromède à Blagnac. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(2) Construction21. (2015). Ecoquartier Andromède.
(3) Toulouse Metropole. [no date]. Quartier Andromède. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(4) Vivre Andromède. [no date]. Andromède en chiffres. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(5) Vivre Andromède. [no date]. C’est quoi un écoquartier ? Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(6) Oppidea. [no date]. Oppidea. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(7) Oppidea. [no date]. ZAC Andromède: Le premier écoquartier du Toulouse Métropole ! Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(8) Vivre Andromède. [no date]. Espaces verts. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(9) Vivre Andromède. [no date]. Plan du quartier d'Andromède. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(10) Rancoule, Amandine. (2008). La ZAC Andromède avance à pas mesurés. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(11) Emery,Philippe. (2012). Andromède : un tiers d'espaces verts. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(12) Woodstock Paysage. [no date]. ZAC Andromède. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(13) Toulouse Metropole. [no date]. Vivre Andromède:Blagnac - Beauzelle. (Document attached).
(14) Doumergue, Cyril. (2016). Safran, nouveau fleuron de l'écoquartier Andromède. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(15) Audouy, Michel. [no date]. Coulée verte. Available at: Source link
(16) MINISTÈRE DE LA COHÉSION DES TERRITOIRES. (2016). Qu’est-ce qu’un ÉcoQuartier ? Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 15, 2020).
(17) EUROPAN14. [no date]. Toulouse metropolis: entering the productive metropolis. (Document attached).
Green Space at the Andromède Ecodistrict
Green Space at the Andromède Ecodistrict
Photographer: Lydie Lecarpentier Thomas (www.lydie-photographe.fr), retrieved 08/28/2018 from Maxime Thomas