Lyon City Profile

• We explore the development of Lyon as an industrial and international city.
• We demonstrate the complex and multi-layered governance structures that characterise the city.
• Lyon faces challenges in reconciling economic competitiveness and social cohesion.
• The city has taken proactive steps to implement an action plan to address the challenges of climate change.

Lyon is France’s second city, located in south-eastern France at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers. Historically, it was a significant European trade and financial centre during the 15th and 16th centuries, and from the 16th century, also became the largest producer of textiles in France, particularly associated with silk weaving. By the 19th century Lyon had become an important industrial city with a diversified base and associated tertiary activities. The 20th century saw the city expand further, particularly into its hinterland beyond the administrative boundaries. As a result, in relation to governance, there is a range of complex and multi-layered structures that characterise the city and the surrounding agglomeration. This profile documents these governance arrangements, and sets out some of the key challenges that the city faces today, including economic competitiveness, social cohesion and issues related to environmental sustainability. It shows that despite the city being a player on the European stage, with a number of high-profile urban development projects, including La Confluence regeneration area, there are still high levels of social polarisation in the city, with significant socio-spatial disparities between neighbourhoods. The challenge for Lyon is to make connections between high-profile development projects and disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the city, in order to address some of the key structural challenges that urban areas in many countries of the global north face in the 21st century.