Lille European Metropolis encompasses almost 140 business parks, spread across the whole territory of the metropolis and representing almost 10% of the total land of the metropolis. Most of the parks were built in the 1970s and today host in total ca. 12,000 companies and 105,000 employees. Lille European Metropolis is politically committed to a more sustainable management of its business parks, yet also practically through its involvement as an active partner in IB-Green. Parts of its work in the IB-Green project focuses on two industrial parks: “Ravennes-les-Francs” (more info here) and “Seclin”.
The Seclin industrial and business park was created in 1967 and is located south of Lille in the municipalities of Seclin and Noyelles-lès-Seclin. The park is covering 178 ha, gathers 250 organisations for a total amount of 8,000 employees. Its particularity: it is located over a water table, being the source of drinking water for the Lille Metropolis population.
As such, the park is subject to specific environmental regulations that are preventing damages to the groundwater. Sealed surfaces in industrial and business parks can actually help protecting the groundwater, as they can for example avoid environmental damage in case of leaking of hazardous substances and orientate water in a rainwater drainage which actually foresees necessary filtering facilities. Moreover, the rainwater collection and infiltration from different surfaces need to be considered and treated differently according to different levels of potential pollution, and sealed surfaces can help orientate rainwater in the right treatment facilities. This means that part of the groundwater protection consists in restricting the increase of green-blue infrastructure.
On the other hand, the high number of sealed surfaces in Seclin, and in industrial and business parks in general, is making them and the surrounding urban areas particularly vulnerable to heat stress and drought. Improving rainwater retention is necessary to make the park more climate resilient, protect it from extreme weather events and offer a safer environment for the businesses implemented in the park as well as for the citizens living there.
In this context, Lille European Metropolis is looking for solutions to increase the infiltration of rainwater by reclaiming artificial public surfaces. The aim is to make them more permeable and add more vegetation, while protecting the groundwater from any damages and even increase its quality. Potential measures have been thought of and are to be developed within IB-Green, like the renaturation of public sealed surfaces, the construction of greenways or the development of a rainwater management system through the implementation of rain gardens on public spaces. Lille European Metropolis is exchanging with other IB-Green partners, for example the city of Leeuwarden (Netherlands), which is facing similar challenges regarding rainwater management, so they can learn from each other’s experiences.
Contact at Lille European Metropolis:
- Roxane Billion-Prunier, rbillionprunier@lillemetropole.fr
- Marine Laborde, mlaborde@lillemetropole.fr
Link: https://lillemetropole.fr/les-projets-europeens-la-mel