Links between Paris, London and Brussels are being actively strengthened by the conti- nuation of Euralille, a vast project connecting the TGV, the A1 autoroute and the centre of Lille through a new district, emblematic in terms of the modernity of its buildings and the diversity of its facilities. Euralille 2, which is close to 30 hectares in size, will become the district of entry to Lille via the autoroute, from 2010. It provides an opportunity to suggest new ways of urban living. The « inhabited wood » constitutes the first foundation of the urban project. It is about defining a form of « off-peak town-planning », dealing with the empty parts of the city and the way it breathes rather than built-up sites alone.
A kind of town planning to do with inter-relationships, in which the landscape brings unity to the way the city is organised. Thus, this density identifies Euralille 2 as a « green district ». At any rate, the concept responds to the will to think about the perception of public space both in terms of the land and of the buildings round about. So two strata of trees enable these two points of view to be regulated. These different scales of planting structure the views and the relations between places. Contract grown trees, of heights between 12 and 14 m, have been reserved for the entire project, and are planted as each phase advances, thus ensuring an overall coherence in the proportions of the plantations.
