The Gironde is once again on the top step of the podium of the most attractive departments in mainland France, according to the latest figures from the census of
INSEE, published Wednesday. With an increase in its population of + 1.3% per year on average over the period 2013-2019 (against + 0.4% for mainland France), the Gironde shares this first place with the Haute-Garonne this year.
First department of the region with 1,623,749 inhabitants, the Gironde welcomes one in four neo-Aquitaine. “In fifty years, the Gironde has gained 500,000 inhabitants” comments Patrick Hernandez, head of the studies department at INSEE Nouvelle-Aquitaine. He observes that “the growth dynamic of the Gironde” really got under way “about fifteen years ago” and that it has been sustained “for three to four years”. “Today it is a phenomenon that has taken hold. “
15,500 more individuals settle in Gironde each year
The dynamism of the department “can be explained above all by its attractiveness”, continues Patrick Hernandez. The Gironde records a migratory surplus (difference between the number of people entering and the number of people leaving a territory) of 15,500 individuals per year, to which must be added a positive natural balance (difference between births and deaths) of 4,150 residents. “Of the 15 most important population changes in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, thirteen are in Gironde, including twelve in the metropolis of Bordeaux. “
With 260,958 inhabitants and a growth of 1.2%, which represents 2,900 additional people on average per year, Bordeaux remains very attractive. “But this is not the heart of the metropolis where growth is the most dynamic,” points out Patrick Hernandez. Cities like Villenave d’Ornon (36,754 inhabitants, + 3.1%), Bègles (30,642 inhabitants, + 2.7%), Bruges (19,403 inhabitants, + 2.3%), Eysines (24,488 inhabitants, + 2% ) Cenon (25,496 inhabitants, + 1.8%), Lormont (23,181 inhabitants + 1.8%) or Saint-Médard-en-Jalles (31,808 inhabitants, + 1.4%) indeed have a higher dynamic. Mérignac (72,197 inhabitants, + 0.9%) and Pessac (65,245 inhabitants, + 1.2%) remain the two most populous towns in the department behind Bordeaux.
40,000 additional jobs
The first lever for the attractiveness of a territory is “dynamism in terms of employment”, explains Patrick Hernandez, “and this is the case in Gironde since we had 40,000 additional jobs between 2013 and 2018, including 26,000 in metropolitan Bordeaux. “
The other factor of attractiveness is housing, “knowing that this works in both directions since the more housing we build, the more people we attract, and the more people come, the more housing we need,” says the statistician. “In Gironde, there are 60,000 additional residences between 2013 and 2018, more than half of which are in metropolitan Bordeaux. “Finally, there is the dynamic of university poles, overwhelming in Bordeaux:” One in two students from Nouvelle-Aquitaine studies in Bordeaux, “observes Patrick Hernandez, who notes that the Bordeaux campus attracts even beyond regional borders.
An equally attractive coastline
The Gironde is also a department open to the Atlantic coast, which is also attractive. The municipalities of the Arcachon basin are thus experiencing sustained momentum, with + 1.9% for Gujan-Mestras (21,887 inhabitants), + 1.4% for Andernos (12,242 inhabitants), + 1% for La Teste-de-Buch (26,168 inhabitants). Only the commune of Arcachon itself (11,630 inhabitants) is down (- 2.3%) in particular due to a very negative natural balance (- 1.7%), and a dissuasive property price ( more than 6,400 euros / m2 for old apartments).
“We can say that it is, overall, the urban area of Bordeaux that is attractive” summarizes Patrick Hernandez. The urban area includes Bordeaux metropolis “and all the municipalities which are connected to it without building discontinuity” specifies the statistician. This forms an area of more than 1.3 million inhabitants going almost to Libourne on one side, and Arcachon on the other. “Twenty years ago, there was no such extension of the urban territory” notes the statistician, but in the meantime, “we have built a lot, along the highways in particular. “This is leading households to move further and further away from the metropolis, as evidenced by the strong dynamic of Saint-André-de-Cubzac, north of Bordeaux (12,372 inhabitants, + 3.2%).
This phenomenon has consequences on road congestion, “which can be a brake on installation”, notes Patrick Hernandez. It remains to be seen what consequence will have in the years to come teleworking, on the increase since the Covid-19 crisis, on all of this dynamic in the department.