COMMUNAUTE D’AGGLOMERATION DE SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES

It is not common for a city in its thirties to be awarded the prestigious label Villes d'art et d'histoire by the Ministry of Culture and Communication. And yet, the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines urban community succeeded in this brilliant move in June 2006. It is thus the first new ex-city to have received this label, which responds to three criteria: make residents aware of their living environment and encourage quality tourism, introduce young people to architecture, heritage and urban planning, and finally present the city (visits, interpretation centre...). It thus testifies to the tremendous human adventure that was the creation, in barely thirty years, of this young urban area of 150,000 inhabitants. A veritable open-air museum, a laboratory for contemporary architecture and urban art, this territory also boasts remarkable ancient sites and an exceptional natural heritage that makes up more than 40 % of its image. The recognition of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines therefore marks a further step in the development of recent cities. It is also a strong signal for contemporary creation, with its wanderings and dazzling successes. Today, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines groups together 12 municipalities (Elancourt, Guyancourt, La Verrière, Magny-les-Hameaux, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, Trappes, Voisins-le-Bretonneux, Plaisir, Villepreux, Claye-sous-bois, Coignières and Maurepas) with different stories.