In the context of its partnership work programme, Apur is updating and enriching the atlas of culturel spaces in the Metropolis in close liaison with the Societé du Grand Paris (SGP), Grand Paris Metropolis (MGP) and the Ile-de-France Regional Department of Cultural Affairs (DRAC).
The atlas of cultural facilities was first produced in 2015 by Apur, the Société du Grand Paris and DRAC Ile-de-France, in collaboration with the Grand Paris Express (GPE) project. It formed a complementary part of the Observatory of Station Neighbourhoods. With the construction of 200 km of metro lines, the Grand Paris Express will profoundly change the geography of the metropolis, its ways of functioning and how it is represented. This atlas provides some answers to questions about the future of the cultural landscape of this new, transforming territory: what will the interaction be between the new metro and existing or planned cultural spaces? What place will be given to culture in new station neighbourhoods? What new cultural map of the metropolis is likely to emerge?
270 existing cultural spaces were identified in station neighbourhoods - under 10 minutes walk away - which include a dozen or so museums, twenty or so exhibition spaces and galleries, forty or so live performance venues, around twenty cinemas, fifty conservatoires, music, dance and circus schools.
Based on an inventory of cultural spaces which are open to the general public, the typology distinguishes book and media libraries, cinemas, museums, other exhibition areas, heritage sites, performance spaces, higher education spaces linked to the arts, spaces for amateur activities and the main cultural and leisure sites to visit. An assessment of their outreach and popularity was also proposed to heighten awareness of the possible leverage effects of the arrival of the GPE.
The Société du Grand Paris, the Metropolis, DRAC IIe-de-France and Apur would like to produce a new atlas in 2022, with additional themes: artists’ studio-apartments, art in public space and stations, festivals, third places and cultural incubators, micro-folies (digital museums), cultural businesses (book shops, galleries), tourist sites and routes, particularly walks and cycle loops, which help to link natural sites, cultural spaces and works of art in public space. The map making will evolve to take into account, in addition to the scale of station neighbourhoods, that of the Metropolis and Public Territorial Establishments.
