A city that places people at the centre of its development

The Metropolis of Lyon has had for several years a goal of contributing to more sustainable development. In 1992, its urban ecology charter made it a pioneer of local actions aimed at preserving the environment.
In 2019, it was chosen as the first capital of “Smart Tourism” by the European Union, to recognise sustainable, integrated and environmentally-friendly tourism.

Last updated date : 08/03/2021

Today, that commitment finds expression in a large number of eco-friendly urban-planning projects and various innovations.

Green spaces, biodiversity, air and water quality, renewable energies, renewal of building insulation: over the past 15 years, Metropolitan Lyon has made all these themes its watchwords, transform life in the city along with it.

Eco-friendly urban planning 

  • Innovations throughout the entire area, to make the city a more pleasant place, 
  • A lively, smart, innovative, sustainable metropolis: Lyon Smart City. This sustainable urban development enables new uses by incorporating technological innovations (resource pooling, combating waste, improving access to essential services like health, education and culture, etc.)
  • Creation of eco-districts (Confluence, La Soie, Part-Dieu)
  • The district of Confluence named as the first sustainable district in France.
  • Hikari, the first smart, mixed-use, energy-positive neighbourhood in France. 

Encouraging eco-mobility

  • 24-hour self-service car-sharing is booming and is set to be one of the modes of transport of tomorrow’s city.
  • Second largest public transport network in France, with over 75% of journeys made by electric vehicles.
  • First city in France to have a self-service bike share system: VELO’V.
  • Self-service cars (Citiz LPA – Yea).
  • In May 2017, Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport became carbon neutral, obtaining  ACA 3+ of the Air Carbon Accreditation scheme, a greenhouse gas emissions reduction programme. 
  • NAVLY: the world’s first public transport service using autonomous electric vehicles. 

Opening the city up to nature 

  • Lyon ranked fourth in France’s Green Cities Observatory ‘Greenest City Awards 2017’, and first for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
  • Every year, nearly 10% of the city’s squares and gardens are regreened, and each resident of Lyon has 32 m² of green space (public and private) within a radius of less than 300 metres away from them. 
  • A green city with 360 hectares of green spaces, green walls and over 25 shared gardens.
  • Redevelopment of the banks of the Rhône and Saône into an area for walking, cycling and leisure activities.

An environmentally-friendly area

  • Innovations to make Lyon a sustainable area: AXELERA (chemical and environmental sectors), CARA (European Cluster for Mobility Solutions) et Tenerrdis (energy transition) are three competitiveness clusters firmly committed to clean technology.
  • Creation of the 'Lyon, a Sustainale, Fairtrade City' label in 2010, with over 200 labelled organisations. 
  • Launch of the Made in Lyon label in 2019 to promote the city’s creative arts,
  • A growing number of eco-friendly hotels available, 
  • The Cité- Lyon Convention Centre: an initiative geared towards ecology, with an ecological stance from all staff and an environmentally friendly site (bioclimatic control, solar panels, ISO 14001-certified green spaces).

Sustainable business and leisure tourism

Lyon City Card
Culture and leisure pass

Lyon City Card

The essential pass to cultural activities in Lyon: museums, guided tours, boat cruises and more!.

More
Visiter Lyon
Start exploring the city with

Visiterlyon.com

Leisure cruise, guided tours, wine tours, etc.

More

Our website is opimized for recent browsers.
For an optimal display of the different contents, we recommend that you update your browser.