Jean-Luc Moudenc has been the mayor of Toulouse since 2014. He was first elected in 2004 and was reelected in 2014, and in 2020, as both Mayor of Toulouse and chair of Toulouse Métropole. He previously worked for the Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénnées and for the General Council of Haute-Garonne. Before entering local politics, Jean-Luc Moudenc was a journalist. He graduated from Toulouse 1 University Capitole with a degree in Labour Law and staff management.
Toulouse is using the Le Plan Climat-Air-Énergie Territorial (PCAET) to guide its approach to tackling climate change. The city is in the process of re-greening ‘Ramier Island’, a project co-financed 55% by the ‘Life Green Heart’ Project, to provide a 13-acre green space to improve air quality and tackle rising urban temperatures. Toulouse is home to Oncopole Solar Energy Plant, the largest urban solar plant in France that can produce enough energy to power 4,000 households per year. The municipality is also providing financial grants to individuals installing solar panels, and converting sewage sludge into biomethane that can supply power to up to 11,000 inhabitants.
Toulouse is also adapting its transport infrastructure to tackle climate change. The city is developing the ‘VélôToulouse’ system by building new bike paths and enabling cyclists to take their bikes inside public transportation. The most polluting vehicles will progressively be prohibited from the city centre by 2024. Toulouse has also inaugurated an urban logistics area to centralise deliverables within the city so they can be delivered by electric vehicles and cargo bikes.
Toulouse is improving the quality of housing available for residents by rehabilitating buildings and sometimes replacing them. Since signing National Agency for Urban Renovation (NAUR) conventions in 2015, 2,375 units of accommodation were demolished, and 2,283 were rebuilt. Households affected by these projects were rehoused.
To meet the growing demand for social housing, Toulouse Métropole signed a contract with the social enterprise for housing Patrimoine SA Languedocienne to provide more than 1,500 adapted and affordable rental accommodation units by 2026. The city has committed €77 million to rehabilitation and 1,000 units will be built for home ownership. These projects are designed using a low-carbon approach, and aim to promote local employment and initiate a program of urban recycling actions.
Support to the most vulnerable is provided through housing programs, such as ‘Instal’toit’ that grants interest-free loans, with no fees, to young Toulouse citizens aged from 18 to 30. These monthly grants of between €100 and €500, are reimbursable within 2 years, and aim to help students and young workers pay rent and other housing costs.
The city also provides grants for the elderly, aged 60 and older, and the disabled to renovate and adapt housing to their specific needs. This benefits the most vulnerable households with incomes lower than €1,500 a month for a single person and below €2,500 a month for couples.
Building on the Smart City Masterplan, Toulouse has digitalised a large number of services in order to facilitate access and information via the ‘MonToulouse’ platform. The platform enables electronic completion of city administration processes, such as school inscriptions and paying for school meals, and provides information about eco-renovations, school meal menus (via the ‘Qui dit Miam’ app), and local museums, sports facilities and public transport.
The city is also using smart technology to improve safety, such as through the installation of smart street lighting which, upon detection of movement, lights up. In addition to improving safety, smart lighting reduces energy consumption.
Youth – Toulouse provides all school students with the ‘Carte Jeune Region’, which enables high school students to travel for free, and provides university students with free textbooks and personal computers. High school students also receive a 20-euro coupon to buy books and a 15-euro grant to put towards sport club fees. Between 2015 and 2021, the city spent 6 million euros on upgrading technology used in classrooms to improve learning conditions. This digitalisation notably consisted of the provision of interactive whiteboards, projectors and other electronic equipment. The city has also prioritised the provision of quality food in school canteens and, in 2021, almost 32% of meals came from organic sources, with more than 51% labelled, and 43% locally produced.
Employment – To help residents find employment, the city of Toulouse organises ‘job dating’ sessions to bring together job seekers, recruitment agencies and employers. The city uses a web platform called ‘Emploi Toulouse Métropole’ to identify and gather job offers and training course availability in Toulouse. The city is also experimenting with a ‘green-income’ program that aims to ensure young people enrolled in trainings for greener jobs receive a salary.