What are Lyon’s next urban projects?

Through Lyon 2030, the city is addressing the challenges of the 21st century with a clear focus on sustainable urban development. This collective approach aims to transform Lyon into a global model for ecological transition.

At its core, Lyon 2023 aims to achieve climate neutrality by the end of the decade. The city’s innovative approach has been recognised by the European Commission. In exchange for this commitment, Lyon receives financial and technical support from the European Union.

Lyon 2030 is a collaborative project involving the city, its citizens, and its businesses. As part of this project, Lyon is supporting local initiatives and projects that promote ecological transition. To strengthen mobilisation, Lyon has created the Agora Lyon 2030, which aims to organise collaboration between stakeholders.

The programme also involves raising awareness among the population through conferences and events. Since climate action needs science to be impactful, the programme also mobilises research to experiment with innovative solutions and predict the next necessary steps.

Lyon 2030 is the city’s flagship urban project and one of its most ambitious.

Lyon Perrache is the name of the historic train station at the heart of the city. As a sprawling transport hub across the peninsula, it has long been a major physical barrier, making the southern part of the peninsula hard to access. The “Ouvrons Perrache” project (literally “Let’s Open Perrache”), is an urban renewal initiative designed to remove this barrier and facilitate circulation. The area will become more accessible and integrated, creating a more cohesive urban fabric and improving the quality of life for residents and visitors.

A large 12-metre arch is to be built to open the passage that will create a link between the Place Carnot and the train station, providing easy access to and Perrache and Confluence. The project also includes the creation of new shops, offices, co-working spaces, a 150-room hotel, a gym and a large garden offering panoramic views over Lyon.

The T2 tramway line will be extended and 300 new parking spaces will be created.

Construction work is set to begin in 2025 and conclude in 2030.

In order to promote more sustainable and active modes of urban mobility, Lyon is developing an ambitious cycling network called “Les Voies Lyonnaises” (“The Lyon Lanes”). This project is a significant milestone in Lyon’s commitment to becoming a more bike-friendly city.

The project involves creating a comprehensive network of 13 lanes totalling 350 kilometres, which extend to 49 surrounding cities. This will make it easier and safer for workers to commute by bike every day.

The lanes are designed with comfort and safety in mind. New green spaces will be created around them, offering large, often bidirectional lanes, separated from roads. The development of Les Voies Lyonnaises will promote healthier and carbon-free ways to move around the city, benefiting all of Lyon’s inhabitants and improving air quality.

As of August 2025, the project has already started, with 97 km completed and 54 km under construction.

In order to become a more resilient and sustainable city, Lyon is making urban greening a central pillar of its urban development strategy. One of the main objectives is to combat the urban heat island effect, which causes cities to be hotter than rural areas. Planting trees, shrubs and other vegetation provides more shade and enables natural processes to cool the air. This makes the city more comfortable in summer, reduces the need for energy-intensive air conditioning and improves biodiversity.

The city is developing existing green spaces and creating new ones. For example, the Parc des Balmes will be open with new paths for walkers and cyclists to discover this preserved natural area. This project will give inhabitants of the peninsula and the 5th arrondissement better access to green spaces, in an area that still lacks them. Other projects include a new park at the Confluence district and the creation of a small wood in the Part-Dieu district.

From 2020 to 2025, 14 hectares of nature were created. During this period, 260 new projects were launched, including the greening of streets to reduce soil sealing, planting with children, educational programmes and the creation of 50 urban orchards for residents.

Taking inspiration from Barcelona’s super-block model, Lyon is starting to transform some of its neighbourhoods to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists over cars. A super-block is a designated urban area (typically a group of city blocks), where through traffic for vehicles is severely limited or completely prohibited. The aim is to reclaim public spaces, reduce noise and pollution, and create neighbourhoods that are more liveable, green, and social for residents.

The project has already been implemented around Place Danton in the 3rd arrondissement, for example, where the roads have been completely transformed and more vegetation has been introduced. In the centre of the former roundabout, a pergola has been installed.

It is expected that more projects will be implemented in the future. These projects are another great example of how Lyon is adapting its urbanism to create a more peaceful, green, healthy and human-scaled city.

With so many urban projects, Lyon shows that it’s a city that looks toward the future. If you are interested in finding more about the French city, ONLYLYON has a lot of articles dedicated to the city in its entirety. If you are considering moving there, if you are a tourist, if you are an entrepreneur looking for a dynamic urban centre for your business or if you are simply curious, we are there to help you discover Lyon!