Building a strong and attractive territorial identity through architectural heritage (Art Deco)

Many European cities affected by post-war reconstruction share a distinctive architectural heritage, such as Art Deco, modernist or early 20th-century architecture. While this heritage is often well preserved, it remains insufficiently integrated into urban development policies and struggles to become a long-term driver of attractiveness, quality of life and positive territorial identity.

Saint-Quentin (France) provides a strong local context to address this shared challenge. Severely damaged during the First World War, the city was rebuilt largely in the Art Deco style and today holds one of the most significant Art Deco ensembles in Europe. Since 2006, Saint-Quentin has developed a comprehensive and long-term strategy using this architectural heritage as a lever for urban regeneration, combining public space design, heritage protection, housing renovation schemes, cultural programming, tourism development and mediation activities targeting a broad audience.

This strategy is embedded in existing local policies, including urban planning, heritage protection, cultural development and city-centre revitalisation. Concrete policy tools already in place include grants for the renovation of Art Deco façades, architectural guidelines for owners, public events and exhibitions, guided tours and educational programmes, as well as large-scale cultural initiatives such as the “Printemps de l’Art Déco”, which brings together more than 20 territories at regional level and has started to open up to international cooperation.

Despite these achievements, key policy questions remain shared with many European cities:
How can a specific architectural heritage be transformed into a sustainable and integrated driver of urban attractiveness? How can heritage-based strategies move beyond tourism to contribute to housing quality, local economy, social cohesion and citizens’ sense of belonging? How can cities measure and reinforce the impact of cultural heritage on urban development?

The ambition of this URBACT network is to bring together cities facing similar challenges to exchange practices, co-produce integrated solutions and strengthen local capacities. Saint-Quentin aims to both contribute its experience as a transferable good practice and benefit from peer learning to further structure and evaluate its heritage-based urban policy.

Through participation in an URBACT network, the city seeks to consolidate its approach into an Integrated Action Plan, connecting heritage, urban planning, attractiveness and quality of life, while developing shared methodologies that can be adapted to different European contexts. More broadly, the project aims to demonstrate how architectural heritage can become a unifying and forward-looking asset for sustainable urban development, rather than a static legacy.