Réinventer Paris — Competitive Calls for Innovative Urban Projects on City-Owned Sites

In November 2014 the City of Paris launched 'Réinventer Paris', asking developer-architect-user teams to propose projects on 23 municipally owned sites, judged first on innovation (construction methods, materials, environmental performance, financing) rather than on the highest bid. By February 2015 the city had received 815 applications, every site attracting proposals (from 9 to 59 per site).
In early 2016 22 winning projects were announced; according to the City of Paris, they represented about €1.3 billion of private investment and over 1,340 homes, 675 of them social housing.
Caution: delivery was slow. A 2022 trade-press report cited by a forum thread counted six of the 22 completed, and in 2021 a court annulled two projects straddling the Paris ring road on health grounds. A 2023 article reports that the Réinventer Paris and Inventons la Métropole calls did not deliver the results expected, and architects' unions criticised cost transparency. No independent full evaluation was found.
The model has been copied by other French and European cities, but its outcomes are better described as a promising procurement innovation with mixed delivery than a proven success.

Read the full analysis: https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/815-candidatures-recues-par-la-mairie-de-paris-en-reponse-son-appel-projets-urbains-innovants