Conceived as a major European business district in the late 1980s and early 1990s,[1] it is strategically located at the intersection of the high-speed railway lines linking Paris, Brussels, and London, and incorporates the Gare de Lille Europe and Gare de Lille Flandres railway stations.
The master plan was commissioned in 1988 to the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) led by Rem Koolhaas.
[2] The masterplan comprised an area of 120 hectares, and proposed a program of 800,000 square metres of floor area for various urban activities, including shopping, offices, hotels and housing, a concert hall and a congress centre.
[3] The planned functional mix has been subject to change and in 2006 comprised 40% office, 20% residential and 40% amenities space.
[2] The initial development area has been extended since 2000 by another 22 hectares, named Euralille 2.