Coordinates: 50°37′24″N 3°08′42″E / 50.623334°N 3.145°E / 50.623334; 3.145
Saint-Sébastien d'Annappes church.
Villeneuve d'Ascq is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
It is located between Lille and Roubaix, at the crossroads of the principal freeways towards Paris, Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels. Its name means New city of Ascq in French and is derived from the Dutch word for "ash". It is one of the principal cities of the communauté urbaine Lille Métropole.
[edit] Demography
Villeneuve d'Ascq counts more than 60,000 inhabitants and attracts 50,000 students, thanks to its technopole. The median age of the population is 29 years.
[edit] Geography
The city counts approximately 10 km2 (3.9 sq mi) of greenspace, lakes, forests and arable lands.
[edit] History
The roots of the city can be traced back to Celtic Gaul, and are anchored in two feudal mounds, a Gallo-Roman site and a Carolingian one.
Its site was selected in the 1960s to accommodate the new town of Lille-Est, which was to channel the development of the agglomeration. The commune of Villeneuve d'Ascq was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the three communes (Ascq, Annappes and Flers). Its name evokes at the same time the new city and the memory of Ascq, martyr city of 1 April 1944, date on which the Nazis massacred 86 men.
The city's merger with Lille was contentious and failed twice (1972 and 1976).
[edit] Chronology
- 11 April 1969 : creation of the publicly owned establishment of installation of Lille-Est (EPALE)
- 25 February 1970: decree of creation of the commune of Villeneuve d'Ascq (26,178 inhabitants according to the census of 1968)
- 31 December 1983: dissolution of the EPALE, the city then reached 60,000 inhabitants.
- 1986: creation of Villeneuve d'Ascq Technopole (VAT, pronounced veh-ah-teh).
[edit] Administration
Having succeeded Gérard Caudron as mayor from 1977 to 2001, Jean-Michel Stievenard and his team wish to maintain balances the environnement and the economic development, the greenery and technology, the daily wellbeing and the great projects, the social one and quality, opening on the its internal comfort and rest of the world, its finance and high degree of public utility. The mayors of Villeneuve d'Ascq since 1977 have been members of the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste).In 2008, the local elections brought back to the city council Gerard Caudron as mayor.
Villeneuve d'Ascq is the seat of two cantons:
- Villeneuve d'Ascq-Nord counts 31,811 inhabitants.
- Villeneuve d'Ascq-Sud counts 33,231 inhabitants.
[edit] Landmarks
The city keeps of its past of many vestiges, sites and equipment. One can visit a museum of modern art there, the forum of sciences François Mitterrand, the rebuildings of a Gaulois village to the park Archéologique ASNAPIO.
The town's stadium Stadium Lille Metropole is the temporary home of Lille's Soccer club the Lille Olympique Sporting Club which is one of the major teams in Ligue 1, having won 8 major national trophies and now regularly appearing in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.
[edit] Education and research : Technopole
Villeneuve d'Ascq Technopole hosts:
- Two university campuses of the Université Lille Nord de France:
- Graduate schools and sciences institutes in 'Cité Scientifique' campus, including:
- Industry parks
[edit] Transportation
As a part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole, Villeneuve d'Ascq is connected to Lille city centre by a VAL, a type of fully-automatic (driverless) light rubber-tired metro. The VAL metro line runs through Villeneuve d'Ascq from Quatre-Cantons and Cité Scientifique stations and drives up to Lille historical city centre and railways stations in about ten minutes.
In fact, while the acronym VAL now officially stands for Véhicule Automatique Léger (automatic light vehicle), it was originally for Villeneuve d'Ascq à Lille (meaning Villeneuve d'Ascq to Lille), the route of the first line to be projected, and inaugurated on 25 April 1983. The Villeneuve d'Ascq metro station is under the Place Salvador Allende (Salvadore Allende Square) and a shopping centre which includes Auchan as one of its main tenants.
[edit] Twin towns
Villeneuve d'Ascq is twinned with:
Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
Tournai, Belgium
Chaidari, Greece
Leverkusen, Germany
Racibórz, Poland
La Possession, Réunion
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Iaşi, Romania
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
