This study analyses the characteristics and recent changes in the stock of office blocks in the centre of the Parisian conglomeration and assesses their projected development with regard to the need for office space in Ile-de-France in the future.
The inventory of office construction projects, based on a survey of known projects and plans laid out in local urbanism documents, shows that nearly 4 million m2 of new offices could be built between 2005 – 2009 (of which 820,000 m2 would be redeveloped areas) in the centre of the conglomeration, added to which about 1.5 million m2 has been earmarked for the construction of offices mostly in Mixed Development Zones (ZAC) or in study sectors. The stock of office buildings could therefore increase by at least 12% by 2009. It should be emphasised that this study only covers listed or planned projects.
In 2005, a number of these projects had either not been granted a building permit or their permit application was under assessment. Therefore, an indeterminate number of projects could be postponed beyond the deadline of 2009 set by the study. However, these figures are important in that they define the short and medium term building potential in the centre of the conglomeration. As concerns these building projects and development goals, the projections regarding changes in employment in Ile-de-France by 2010 show that these projects will not necessarily translate into highly-skilled jobs carried out in offices. The sectors providing office jobs are unlikely to generate large workforces; areas like banking and insurance which traditionally provide a lot of employment, will develop only slightly. These forecasts reveal how the challenge of the years to come will focus less on the increase in office building stock and more on its ability to adjust to the new demands of the future.