“15-Minute City”, “Smart City”, “Sponge Cities”, “Garden Cities”, “Radiant City”, “Walkable City”… For a long time, concepts for reimagining the city of tomorrow have been multiplying. They all share a common goal: to rebuild a new urban imaginary. Today, the challenge is to rethink urban spaces and finally move beyond the functional city envisioned nearly a hundred years ago by the Athens Charter. The city must transform to adapt to the challenges of the 21st century and become the economic and social engine for future generations.
This transformation means refocusing on natural resources—water, biodiversity—and on the people who live in the city, pass through it, work there, or seek care there, from children to older people. For this, city dwellers do not need new ideal city concepts, but concrete solutions to rebuild the city upon itself: to engage in a sustainable and resilient transformation to face tomorrow’s climate challenges.
With the “Living Avenues – Les branches urbaines” initiative, the Central Innovation Department of the Bouygues Group, together with all the Group’s business units, the Solar Impulse Foundation, and architect Jean-Marc Schivo, has committed to a holistic approach to urban challenges. We have chosen to focus on the local scale—that of the neighborhood—where the sense of belonging remains strong. We have identified more than 120 solutions, both internal and external, and have demonstrated that, when brought together to address the city’s systemic challenges, these solutions can create a new way of inhabiting urban space—one that is more respectful of resources, biodiversity, and human connections.

Christophe Lienard – Bouygues Chief Innovation Director