Above all, don't cause a panic, several billion euros' worth of assets are at stake. The situation shouldn't be downplayed either, at the risk of a severe backlash when the economic model of La Défense, Europe's leading business district and the fourth largest in the world, is really out of steam. The office's golden age is over. La Défense no longer has any land to sell, and therefore no more revenue coming, "while there are investments to be made in the public space," explained Alexandre Brugère, the local prefect, who, since October 2024, has taken over one of his predecessor's projects: to find a future for the forest of skyscrapers located west of Paris.

But rather than tackle the subject head-on, La Défense's five main real-estate owners (25% of assets, €5 billion invested in 10 years) − Allianz, Axa, Groupama Immobilier, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Société Générale − preferred to ask some 15 architects, urban planners, legal experts and economists to present their vision of the district in 2050 as a place where employees would still want to come and which would remain livable despite ever hotter summers.

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