Profile: Virginie Vial, alumna

INTERVIEW WITH VIRGINIE VIAL, WHO GRADUATED FROM THE URBAN PLANNING PROGRAMME IN 1996 AND IS NOW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SAMOA URBAN PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT AGENCY IN NANTES.

Interview by Amélie Calafat and Enzo Miottini of the Sciences Po Urba association.

Can you tell us about your background? What paths led you to this programme?

Before joining the Urban Planning Programme, I studied at ESCP Business School in Paris for four years, with a year out in operational marketing. During my final year of study, I took a territorial marketing option, which introduced me to the issue of development. I was particularly struck by a talk given by Thérèse Cornil, who at the time was Director of the SEMAPA (a publicly-owned research, project management and development company in Paris). The venture had just begun. They were testing out a lot of new things, which was causing quite a media buzz at the time, including the installation of a large tepee that hosted the various project actors... It intrigued me!

Despite my interest, I didn’t get involved in the initial venture and I only applied to the Urban Planning Programme after a colleague from my year group, who had studied on the programme during my year out, told me about it. Sometimes small things like that can make a big difference, because the Urban Planning Programme changed everything for me: all of it was interesting and I learned a lot.

What were your plans after participating in the Urban Planning Programme?

With a first degree from business school, I didn't feel qualified enough to go straight into urban planning, despite the year of practical work provided by the programme. However, I thought a better fit for me would be working on territorial economic development issues at various levels. I did my internship at the economic development department of the Greater Lyon Urban Community, and then I looked for openings in similar positions, but it wasn’t easy. I started off at the Meaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was quite a departure from urban issues... It was when I applied to join Euro Disney’s real estate development team that things really began to take off. The director at the time was interested in the dual ‘hats’ of urban planning and private enterprise that I wear.

Can you tell us more about your experience at Euro Disney?

Euro Disney is a co-developer with EPA Marne (a regional public planning & development body) on the perimeter of the Marne-la-Vallée Project of National Interest. The official developer is EPA Marne-EPA France, which acquires the land and sells it to Euro Disney, which is then in charge of programming and real estate development. The most contentious subjects concerned urban and architectural models, where the visions of the EPA and Euro Disney often differed. I spent three very productive years in a team of around 10 people, and took my first steps in the planning and development profession, on the private project management side, of course, but dealing with all the operational and regulatory issues (urban planning regulations, land transfers, public space development, permit instructions, etc.). Working in the private sector requires a certain pragmatism, especially as you have get results.

This gave me a taste for major projects, and I joined the Boulogne-Billancourt local authority, working on the development of the Renault site for three years. Here, I became aware of the political stakes and the sensitive nature of some projects, a long way from implementation, that have lengthy and very structured decision-making processes. This was the case in Boulogne-Billancourt, and I came across it again with Nantes Métropole.

Then I joined SEM Val de Seine, which had just been created. There was a collective desire and eagerness to start the project, and it was exciting to be at its inception. I stayed there for five years, then for family reasons, I moved to Nantes. It was purely for the sake of change and then... I loved it!

In 2009 I found a position at the SAMOA (Société d'Aménagement de la Métropole Ouest Atlantique, which is in charge of the Île de Nantes urban development project and its operational management). I was working in the team led by Laurent Théry, who soon after was replaced by Jean-Luc Charles, who remained at the head of this public enterprise for 11 years. I arrived during a different project timeframe: the SAMOA was created in 2003 and its structure was being consolidated with the first operations of the Quartier de la Création (redevelopment zone). One of Jean-Luc Charles' wishes was to combine urban planning skills with those of economic development and to make room for the cultural and creative industries.

And now that you are the Executive Director of SAMOA, what is the impetus you want to give to it?

I’ve been in the post a month, and it's still a little early to answer. In reality, there’s a very strong continuity in the Île de Nantes development project and although Jean-Luc Charles and Laurent Théry didn’t lead the development project in the same way, both were completely committed to the territory and they knew how to make the most of the team, the territory and the project. The project seems to be self-sustaining; the foundations grow stronger year upon year.

Would you like to share with us a fact, an event or an exhibition that has particularly marked you?

I was seriously impressed by the latest talks of the Club Ville Aménagement (City Development Club), during which Valérie Masson Delmotte (palaeoclimatologist, French representative to the IPCC) sounded the alarm bell about the urgent need for climate intervention. Hearing her, I realised that we were not doing nearly enough; planners have not taken up this issue until now and have not grasped the urgency with which we must act. In the wake of this intervention the SAMOA has begun to move on this issue, although much remains to be done. The ecological transition is a priority for the Nantes metropolis, and it is a subject that I want to lobby for.

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