The Group offers its clients innovative, partnership-based solutions through the Linkcity property development network to make the city of tomorrow more sustainable and attractive. Spotlight on Lyon Living Lab Confluence — a flagship project being showcased at this year’s MIPIM event. The Ministries of Ecology and Housing launched the ‘Industrial Demonstrators for the Sustainable City’ call for tenders in October 2015. The purpose of the call for tenders was to foster urban projects with a strong innovative component, with a particular focus on taking into account the workings of the city. The aim is for the projects to become a showcase for French excellence in making cities sustainable. Lyon Living Lab Confluence is one of sixteen selected projects that will receive specific support from the State as part of a reciprocal agreement with project owners to remove any potential barriers to the projects’ success.

Putting people at the heart of the urban experience

Lyon Living Lab Confluence is located in the Confluence neighbourhood — an area in the heart of the innovative city that represents exceptional opportunities. A full-scope urban services operator will be set up to maintain performance in the neighbourhood. The operator will also oversee a digital services management platform for the eco-neighbourhood. This will provide in particular for data collection regarding the consumption and production of all resources, with the aim of optimising energy, water, transport, heating, and public lighting, etc. The concrete demonstrator is aimed at designing an innovative, sustainable neighbourhood that exceeds the overall performance of traditional urban projects. The project is being led by a public-private consortium of 12 partners, involving a total of approx. 70 associates as part of an open innovation approach (start-ups, institutions, and large groups).

A unique experiment in the interest of healthcare

One of the project’s unique features is the inclusion of healthcare and well-being as key considerations. “The area will increasingly become a place for treating chronic illnesses and taking care of elderly patients. We’re proposing e-healthcare solutions in housing to connect the home to a nursing home, which we would like, in turn, to be extremely innovative and connected itself to a hospital. This could be used, for example, to predict potential disease, streamline patient pathways between the various healthcare services, or even help support elderly people who wish to remain in their own homes for longer,” explains Laurent Michelin, Head of Innovation and Marketing at Linkcity.

Highlights at MIPIM

The Lyon Living Lab project will be presented at two conferences: – On 16 March at 11 a.m. at the Grand Lyon stand with Gérard Collomb and architects David Chipperfield (London) and Aires Mateus (Lisbon). – On 16 March at 3 p.m. in the Croisette room during the ‘Consultation: The key to making innovative urban projects a success” conference, which is being organised by Linkcity. See our Twitter feed for the latest discussions and news from the event.