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Greater Geneva - a special dossier

GREATER GENEVA

Made up of 209 municipalities spread between the Swiss cantons of Geneva and Vaud and the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie, Greater Geneva is one of the most dynamic territories in Europe, both from an economic and demographic point of view. With over a million inhabitants and more than 550,000 jobs, the challenge for this shared cross-border living area is to maintain at the same time its attractiveness, quality of life, territorial and environmental balance and social cohesion.
Greater Geneva’s inhabitants experience the cross-border reality in their day-to-day lives – in the journeys they take, their work and their cultural, sporting and leisure activities. In order to develop this territory, while protecting its environment, it is crucial to coordinate and implement cross-border public policies in the areas of transport, spatial planning and the ecological transition. This is the purpose of the Greater Geneva Local Grouping of Cross-Border Cooperation (LGCC), which provides political, technical and financial solutions to enable joint cross-border actions to be carried out.
2019 will be an important year for Greater Geneva: it marks the launch of new transport infrastructures*. With over 3 million daily journeys, of which 600,000 involve crossing the border between France and Geneva, sustainable mobility in Greater Geneva requires constant and sustained efforts. It is a fundamental issue that affects public health, quality of life and economic competitiveness for all of Greater Geneva’s inhabitants. More info [FR]

The territory

- 2 countries
- 2 cantons
- 2 departments,
- 2,000 km²
- 209 municipalities
- 1 million inhabitants
- 550,000 jobs

Members

- Republic and Canton of Geneva
- Vaud Canton
- Regional Council of the District of Nyon
- City of Geneva
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region
- Haute-Savoie Department
- Ain Department
- Metropolitan Pole of the French Genevois (comprising 8 groups of French municipalities)
Associate members
- the French Republic
- the Swiss Confederation

Read the other articles of the special dossier on the Greater Geneva:
- Editorial from Christian Dupessey, Mayor of Annemasse, President of Annemasse Agglo, Vice-President of the MOT and Jean Denais, Mayor of Thonon-les-Bains, President of the Metropolitan Pole of the French Genevois
- Interview with Anna-Karina Kolb, Director of the External and Federal Department of the Republic and Canton of Geneva
- Cross-border employment: the point of view of Michel Charrat, President of the European Cross-Border Grouping

* The Léman Express cross-border regional rail-line, the Geneva-Annemasse cross-border tram, new park and ride facilities, dynamic car-sharing schemes, and new cycle routes.

Photo: Revillard