APUR Paris Urban Planning Agency

The Paris Urbanism Agency (Apur), is an association regulated by the 1901 Law and was created on 3rd July 1967 by Paris City Council. Since November 2, 2022 Alexandre Labasse the architect, has been Managing Director.

Apur’s mission is to document, analyse and develop forward looking strategies which address the urban and societal evolution of Paris and Greater Paris (Métropole du Grand Paris). It is :

  • A tool at the service of urban development public policy makers and development on Parisian and metropolitan scales;
  • A pathfinder in setting up the Métropole du Grand Paris while taking into consideration its characteristics and competence as defined in the text of the Maptam Law for the modernisation of territorial public action and the assertiveness of metropolises;
  • A platform for exchanging information, sharing construction and distribution with all the key players in Paris and the Métropole du Grand Paris, technical syndicates, public establishments, municipalities and its citizens.

Its missions are decided upon each year at a general assembly where a detailed work programme is adopted which includes all the studies, observatories and data processing that Apur is responsible for carrying out and making known to its administrators and the general public.
Apur is also involved in missions beyond its social role when it responds to calls for tenders  put out by Ile-de-France or foreign municipalities.

The Agency’s 2025-2026 work program is organised around 4 main lines of action:

  • Documenting and analyzing changes in the Greater Paris Metropolis;
  • Participating in the definition of public development policies and metropolitan-scale projects;
  • Initiating and developing prospective studies;
  • Producing and sharing a metropolitan culture.

Most of this work—except for observatories intended for institutional partners—is accessible to the general public on its website, and a large amount of data is available on the Apur open data platform.

Furthermore, APUR can also carry out missions or studies ordered by local authorities or foreign authorities, if it is linked to its purpose.