Lyon Confluence turned a former industrial peninsula at the tip of the Rhône-Saône junction into one of France's early smart-energy districts. From 2011 to 2017, the Franco-Japanese Lyon Smart Community pilot tested a neighbourhood smart grid, solar EV car-sharing and home energy monitors, producing the Hikari block — a positive-energy mixed-use building delivered in 2015. The EU-backed Smarter Together programme then extended district heating and solar capacity across the quarter from 2016 to 2021, with the district's energy work continuing into a digital-twin phase running through 2028.

The atlas documents 2 projects in Lyon, the earliest dating to 2011: 2 with a documented success. Every entry carries an evidence grade — the strongest here is peer-reviewed (1 entry) — and links its sources.

All 2 projects in Lyon

✔ Every published entry is checked against the public sources it cites before publication.

Outcome: 2 succeeded — Evidence: 1 peer-reviewed · 1 official

Deeper reads

Where Lyon appears in the atlas's own analysis.

Closest comparisons

One city the atlas reads next to Lyon — the reason first, then the entries it rests on. Chosen by hand from the Lyon threads below, not counted out of them.

1. 🇳🇴 Trondheim

   Two EU lighthouse energy districts, opposite starting points: Lyon Confluence retrofitted an existing quarter until its buildings used half the energy; Trondheim's +CityxChange built new blocks that generate more than they use over a year.

   • Lyon Confluence ↔ +CityxChange
   • Confluence Smarter Together Energy Grid ↔ +CityxChange

Show 6 further city threadsShow fewer

Every editorial link from Lyon's entries into another city, strongest first. Each one is a statement about two projects, not about two cities — the three above are the ones the atlas is willing to make at city level.

• 🇩🇪 Munich: Smarter Together Munich Lyon and Munich were the two founding Smarter Together lighthouse cities (2016-21), pairing EU retrofit funds with local energy pilots.
• 🇸🇪 Stockholm: GrowSmarter Another EU Horizon 2020 lighthouse retrofit: Lyon paired Smarter Together funds (2016-21) with its own smart-grid pilot from 2011.
• 🇦🇹 Vienna: aspern Seestadt Smart City Lab Two 2010s district energy labs: Aspern has researched grids on a new-build site since 2013; Lyon retrofitted its old docks from 2011.
• 🇳🇴 Trondheim: +CityxChange Two EU-linked energy district pilots: Lyon paired Smarter Together funds with a 2011 smart-grid platform; Trondheim built its by 2023.
• 🇯🇵 Kashiwa: Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City Two district energy programs a world apart: Lyon balances renewable supply across a converted dockland; Kashiwa shares power citywide.
• 🇦🇹 Graz: Smart City Graz Waagner-Biro Both are district energy retrofits on former industrial land — Lyon's balances solar and district heat, Graz's adds geothermal.

Official strategy and sources

📎 Cite this city

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Smart-city projects in Lyon, France.” The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/cities/lyon/ (last verified 2026-08-02). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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