The Board of Directors of the Paris Urbanism Agency (Apur), which met on Friday 26th of June 2026, for the inauguration session of its new members, elected Lamia El Aaraje as its President. As First Deputy to the Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire, responsible for the coordination of districts, major, mandatory projects and the everyday security of Greater Paris - Grand Paris - and the First Vice-President of Grand Paris Metropolis, she succeeds Christophe Najdovski whom Apur wishes to thank on this occasion for his five years commitment during his tenure.
“"At a time when climate change, housing shortages, modes of transport and inequality are profoundly transforming our cities we need rigorous, independent and shared expertise, more than ever. A metropolis cannot be built on intuition alone: it is built on well founded knowledge, dialogue and a long-term vision. For a city is not merely a space to be developed. It is a promise made to those who live in it, for them to be able: to live decently with dignity, to breathe, to go from one place to another, to meet and to share, to be housed, to find cool respite as summers become harder to bear and to prepare for the future without relinquishing the quality of life. This is the ambition that I will bring to the presidency of Apur: to enable this unique partnership between local authorities, the government, institutions, partners, researchers and teams, to serve a resilient , inclusive metropolis which is attentive to the realities of its inhabitants.” Lamia El Aaraje.
President
Ms. Lamia EL AARAJE, First Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of coordination with the arrondissements, major projects for the term of office, everyday safety, and Greater Paris
Treasurer
Mr. Pierre LOMBARD, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of city cleanliness, waste reduction, and the circular economy
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS
The City of Paris
Mr. Thomas CHEVANDIER, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of public construction, construction site oversight, and coordination of public space projects,
Mr. Maxime CROSNIER, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Senior Citizens and Demographic Issues, Paris City Council member
Mr. Maxime DES GAYETS, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of the Paris Council, Streamlining Public Action, Public Policy Evaluation, and Resilience, Paris City Council Member
Mr. Nour DURAND-RAUCHER, Paris City Council Member
Ms. Catherine IBLED, Paris City Council Member
Mr. Aurélien VERON, Paris City Council Member
Mr. Adrien TIBERTI, Paris City Council Member
The State
The Minister of the Interior, represented by the Prefect of the Île-de-France region, the Prefect of Paris, or his or her representative
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion, represented by Emmanuelle GAY, Director of the DRIEAT
The Minister of the Economy and Finance, represented by Ms. Isabelle KABLA-LANGLOIS, Île-de-France Regional Director of INSEE
The Minister of Culture, represented by Mr. Frédéric MASVIEL, Head of the Paris Departmental Unit for Architecture and Heritage
The Paris Police Prefect or his representative
The Greater Paris Metropolis
Mr. Joakim GIACOMONI, Mayor of Colombes
Mr. Maxime SAUVAGE, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of sports, sports facilities, and equal access to sports
The third metropolitan representative will be appointed at the metropolitan council meeting on October 13, 2026
The Paris Departmental Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Mr. Gérald BARBIER, President
The Paris Public Transport Authority (RATP)
Mr. Xavier PIECHACZYK, President and Chief Executive Officer
The Major Projects Company
Mr. Julien PEYRON, Executive Director of Stations and Urban Development
MEMBERS
Council of Local Authorities and Intermunicipal Associations
The Plaine Commune region (T6)
Mr. Bally BAGAYOKO, President, Mayor of Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, or his alternate, Ms. Cécile GINTRAC, Vice President of the territory in charge of land use planning, urban planning, and urban renewal, Deputy Mayor of Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
The Paris Terres d’Envol region (T7)
Ms. Virginie DE CARVALHO, Vice President of the region and Mayor of Tremblay-en-France
The Est Ensemble region (T8)
Mr. Laurent BARON, Vice President of the region in charge of sustainable development, Mayor of Le Pré-Saint-Gervais
The Grand Paris Grand Est region (T9)
Mr. Pierre-Yves MARTIN, Vice President of the territory in charge of urban planning and the intermunicipal local urban development plan, Mayor of Livry-Gargan, or his alternate, Mr. Christian DEMUYNCK, Vice President of the territory in charge of development, Mayor of Neuilly Plaisance
The Paris Est Marne & Bois territory (T10)
Pending appointment
The Grand-Orly Seine Bièvre region (T12)
Mr. Camille VIELHESCAZE, Vice President in charge of urban planning and the PLUI, Deputy Mayor of Cachan
The Seine-Saint-Denis Departmental Council
Ms. Marie-Louise MANGHO KUÉTÉ, departmental councilor
Council of Technical Unions
Île-de-France Mobilités
Ms. Laurence DEBRINCAT, Director of Planning & Research
The Interdepartmental Union for Sanitation in the Paris Metropolitan Area
Pending appointment
The Intermunicipal Union for Gas and Electricity in Île-de-France
Mr. Bernard GAUDUCHEAU, President
The Intermunicipal Union of the Paris Suburbs for Energy and Communication Networks
Ms. Anne-Gaëlle LEYDIER, Deputy Mayor of Villejuif in charge of Sustainable City Development and Urban Planning
The Intermunicipal Union for Household Waste Collection and Treatment
Pending appointment
Council of Public Entities
L’Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris
Ms. Cécile GAMBIER, Director of Real Estate and Investments
La Caisse des dépôts
Ms. Najoua BENFELLA-MASSON, Deputy Regional Director for Île-de-France
Eau de Paris
Ms. Ivoa ALAVOINE, Chief Executive Officer
The Île-de-France Regional Public University Development Agency
Mr. Jérôme MASCLAUX, Chief Executive Officer
The Paris La Défense Public Development Agency
Ms. Céline CRESTIN, Director of Strategy and Sustainable Development
The Île-de-France Public Land Agency
Mr. Olivier DENERT, Director of Strategy, Partnerships, and Expertise
HAROPA PORT Paris
Ms. Élodie MELLAH, Head of the Urban Planning and Project Management Department
Paris Habitat
Ms. Cécile BELARD DU PLANTYS, Chief Executive Officer
SNCF Immobilier
Mr. Antoine DE ROCQUIGNY, Chief Executive Officer, represented by Mr. Xavier MOREAU DE BELLAING, Architect
Created in 1967, Apur is an urban planning agency which is a privately managed, 1901 non-profit association, whose members are public entities with expertise or involvement in the field of urban development.
In 2026, the association is composed of some thirty member partners six of which are statutory members: the City of Paris, the French Government, Grand Paris Metropolis, the Paris Departmental Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens and Société des Grand Projets, in addition there are 21 associate members organised into three groups: local and inter-municipal authorities (Plaine Commune, Paris Terres d’Envol, Est Ensemble, Grand Paris Grand Est, Paris Est Marne & Bois, Grand-Orly Seine Bièvre, Seine-Saint-Denis Departmental Council), Technical Syndicates (Île-de-France Mobilités, SIAAP, SIGEIF, Sipperec, Syctom) and Public bodies (APHP, Caisse des dépôts, Eau de Paris, Epaurif, EPA La Défense, Epfif, Haropa Port Paris, Paris Habitat, SNCF Immobilier).
The agency employs 75 multi-skilled collaborators who document, explore, plan, analyse and facilitate the necessary urban transformations and societal changes in the Greater Paris - Grand Paris Metropolis -.
Apur brings together, alongside its founding members—the City of Paris and the French State—stakeholders from the Greater Paris Metropolis and member partners with whom the Atelier develops its collaborative work programme :
l’Ademe, l’AMIF, la RIVP, Elogie-Siemp, l’OLAP, Action Logement, la CAF de Paris, le Samusocial, la Semmaris, l’Agence Paris Climat, le GIE Paris Commerces, la Semaest, Paris & Métropole Aménagement, la Semapa, PariSeine, energy companies (GRDF, Enedis), VNF, le CEREMA, la Fi Bois, Idheal, la fondation Palladio…
Apur is involved in a number of metropolitan bodies :
- Acteurs du Grand Paris, non-profit organisation under the 1901 Act – CA
- Commission départementale d’aménagement commercial de Paris, Prefecture of Paris and Île-de-France
- Commission du Vieux Paris, advisory committee for the protection of Paris’s heritage in terms of its history, archaeology, architecture and urban planning
- Conseil architectural et paysager des projets immobiliers de la Société des grands projets, scientific advisory board to assist the SGP Immobilier subsidiary in organising future architectural design consultations for all its projects
- Conseil d’Architecture, d’Urbanisme et de l’Environnement (CAUE) of Paris
- Conseil de développement de Paris la Défense
- Conseil d’Évaluation du Grand Paris Express de la Société des grands projets, whose remit is to assess the project’s economic, urban, sociological and spatial impacts
- Conseil d’orientation scientifique des Ateliers Médicis
- Comité scientifique de l’Enquête Globale Transport (EGT), Île-de-France Mobilités
- École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Versailles – CA
- Fondation d’entreprise des solidarités urbaines – CA
- Observatoire régional de l’immobilier d’entreprise en Île-de-France, non-profit organisation under the 1901 Act
- Paris and Co, Paris and Greater Paris Regional Innovation Agency – CA
- Paris Habitat OPH – CA, Bureau
- Pavillon de l’arsenal, Information, documentation and exhibition centre for urban planning and architecture in Paris and the Paris metropolitan area – CA
Apur works in partnership with the academic and research communities :
- Work with colleges and universities, l’école nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris Malaquais, l’école nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris Val de Seine, l’école urbaine de Sciences Po, l’école d’urbanisme de Paris, l’université Paris-Cité, Sorbonne-Université.
- Collaboration with research institutions and laboratories, l’Inserm, the European research programme Tod is RUR, la Plateforme d’observation des projets et stratégies urbaines POPSU transitions, CESAER, l’UMR AUSser, consortium Project Time Machine (Infrastructure de Recherche Huma-Num), la Chaire ETI-IAE Paris Sorbonne, la Chaire infrastructures urbaines circulaires EIVP, la Chaire Aménager le Grand Paris
Apur is a member of the Fédération Nationale des Agences d'Urbanisme (Fnau), a federation of 51 urban planning agencies. Fnau is both a network of elected representatives and a network of the 1,700 professionals who work in the agencies, promoting exchanges of experience and the organization of events and collective projects. The network defends the professional interests of agencies and organizes an annual national meeting on a topical theme, providing a forum for political leaders, government departments and urban planning professionals.
The budget to December 31, 2024 is 9.3 million euros.
Income is represented by 85% of the annual subsidies and subscriptions paid by members in respect of the work program, with the remaining 14% corresponding to additional subsidies and contracts.
The annual subsidy from the City of Paris represents 70% of revenues paid by members.