Nov 2019
GCDN is delighted to present the newest member to join our network: Quartier de la Création (SAMOA) in Nantes.
The SAMOA is the urban development agency responsible for the redevelopment of the Island of Nantes, a total of 330ha of which more than a third is old industrial area. Since 2003 over 7250 houses and apartments have been built in addition to 200k m2 of office space, 86k m2 of commercial space and 100k m2 of public infrastructure.
Since 2011 the SAMOA also manages the Creative Factory, an integrated economic development agency that offers business support to the creative and cultural industries. This unusual configuration allows urban and economic development to work together on capacity building, on entrepreneurship of creative professionals, on prototyping and experimentation in public space, and on the intangible assets of the overall creative “place-making” project that is the Creative District.
Through the activities ofthe SAMOA, the Island of Nantes has positioned itself as an urban laboratory in vivo and is one of the emblematic urban redevelopment projects in Europe.