The SEMAEST has been working to enhance urban vitality in the capital's neighborhoods for 30 years. Since 2004 it has been increasingly active in the commercial diversification of numerous areas in Paris, thanks to the Vital’Quartier operation.
On the request of the City of Paris, who wants to develop a policy to protect local shops in certain Parisian districts, the SEMAEST instigated the Vital’Quartier operation in six neighborhoods in 2004, (VitalQuartier 1), and then spread their action to five more in 2008 (Vital'Quartiers 2). The aim of the operation has been to encourage diversity and develop businesses in areas marked either by the gradual disappearance of shops, or by the development of mono-activities to the detriment of local shops and services, and also to contribute to the protection of businesses which already exist.
A total of 372 premises have been set up by the SEMAEST since the beginning of the mission. In many of the streets where the Vital’Quartiers is operating new companies have spontaneously sprung up, attracted by those reinstated by the SEMAEST, which helps to spread the dynamic thus setting in motion a virtuous circle.
Document co-produced by Apur and SEMAEST
