Villes Vivantes

What Villes Vivantes does

Villes Vivantes is a French urban planning technology company founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bordeaux, with a Paris administrative office and additional operational offices in Toulouse, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Rennes. The company develops four open-source bottom-up densification methodologies (BIMBY, BAMBA, BUNTI, and BRAMBLE) that enable territorial collectivities to produce affordable, custom-built housing without urban sprawl. Its approach treats the multitude of resident-initiated micro-projects as the primary raw material for urban transformation, coordinating these through long-term R&D partnerships with municipalities, urban communities (EPCI), metropolitan areas, and SCoT (Schéma de Cohérence Territoriale) organizations.

The company's technology stack combines algorithmic urban planning systems with a 10+ year R&D data asset documented across multiple French pilot territories. The Space Project within its VVCODES R&D lab provides multiscalar, quantitative, systemic, and dynamic geographic and urbanistic modeling that simulates the impacts of different land development scenarios on mobility, household budgets, and carbon emissions. The four core methodologies address different urban transformation use cases: BIMBY organizes soft densification of residential gardens producing a target of 200,000 houses/year; BUNTI reconfigures existing building stock with a 10:1 private-to-public investment leverage targeting 300,000 renovations/year; BAMBA delivers affordable custom-built lots for 100,000 townhouses/year; and BRAMBLE produces 100,000 collective housing units/year in high, elegant densification. Pilot operations have produced 250 projects in Périgueux, 272 in Creusot-Montceau, 200 in SCoT des Vosges Centrales, and 75 in Pays de Vitré, with the BAMBA experimentation at Clermont-Ferrand's La Grande Plaine eco-district selected as a 'Démonstrateur de la Ville Durable' under the France 2030 program in 2022.

The business model is a B2G professional services operation centered on bespoke R&D contracts with territorial collectivities, delivered through a team of approximately 30 people including five co-founders/partners. Revenue mechanics rely on multi-year partnership agreements rather than standardized pricing, with the company engaging directly with elected officials and technical teams of pioneering municipalities to launch pilot operations. Academic and institutional partnerships with Sciences Po Paris, OFCE, and ANR, alongside the annual ORGANIC CITIES colloquium, support thought leadership. Markets served include France primarily, with stated presence in Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and Denmark.

Name

Villes Vivantes

Legal name

Villes Vivantes

Website

https://vivantes.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Villes Vivantes is a French urban planning technology firm that develops four open-source bottom-up densification methodologies (BIMBY, BAMBA, BUNTI, BRAMBLE), enabling territorial collectivities to produce affordable, custom-built housing without urban sprawl. It serves municipalities, urban communities, and metropolitan areas primarily in France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Planning and Architecture Services

NAICS

Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120), Land Subdivision (23721)

SIC

Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552), Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable/Green Building & LEED Consulting (BPAHAKAG), Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK), Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD)

Keywords

• Urban planning services
• Architectural design services
• Urban densification consulting
• Territorial development
• Housing production methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Bordeaux

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Sector R&D Contracts: Villes Vivantes contracts with territorial collectivities (municipalities, urban communities, metropolitan areas) for innovative urban development operations. These are long-term R&D partnerships where local governments commit financial and human resources to test and validate the BIMBY, BAMBA, BUNTI, and BRAMBLE approaches.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Villes Vivantes is an urban planning technology company that has developed four interconnected innovation models (BIMBY, BAMBA, BUNTI, BRAMBLE) for bottom-up urban development. It contracts directly with French territorial collectivities (municipalities, urban communities, metropolitan areas) through long-term R&D partnerships to design, pilot, and scale operations enabling residents to become micro-project holders for housing production on their own land, producing affordable custom housing without urban sprawl.

Product overview

Villes Vivantes is an urban planning technology company that has developed four interconnected deep-tech innovation models (BIMBY, BAMBA, BUNTI, and BRAMBLE) for bottom-up urban development. These models enable residents to become project leaders ('maîtres d'ouvrage') for housing creation on their own land, producing affordable, custom housing without urban sprawl through a short supply chain approach coordinated by local governments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BIMBY: Build In My Back Yard / Beauty In My Back Yard - soft densification model enabling homeowners to build in their gardens, producing 200,000 houses per year without urban sprawl.
• BAMBA
• BUNTI
• BRAMBLE
• VVCODES

Products and services

• BIMBY (Build In My Back Yard / Beauty In My Back Yard) Urban densification model enabling soft, diffuse densification of built spaces at residents' initiative, targeting production of 200,000 houses per year without urban sprawl, harmoniously integrated and connected to existing infrastructure. Coordinated by local authorities with residents building on their own land in a short supply chain approach.
• BAMBA (Beautiful And Made for You Built Area) Development model for deploying affordable, custom-built houses annually in city centers and metropolitan areas, through free lots cut to measure according to future residents' needs, coordinated by local authorities without traditional property development. Targets 100,000 affordable houses per year.
• BUNTI (tisser in Hindi, bonté in Anglo-Norman) Renovation and reconfiguration model for existing building stock using advanced architectural and real estate modeling, generating a leverage effect of €10 of private investment for €1 of public investment. Targets transformation of 300,000 homes annually.
• BRAMBLE (du roncier naît la mûre) Open-source R&D project for collective housing production in high, elegant densification recognized as beautiful by the majority of residents, intensifying strong axes and emerging centralities in agglomerations. Combines advanced engineering for building rights definition, agile urban composition, and creative organization of residents' contribution process. Targets 100,000 collective housing units per year.

Quantifiable outcome

• 250 BIMBY & BUNTI projects completed in Périgueux alone (2016-2021)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Sciences Po PariscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Academic partner collaborating on the ORGANIC CITIES conference series and systemic modeling research. VVCODES and Villes Vivantes co-organize events with OFCE and Sciences Po Paris to debate urban planning innovations.
• OFCE (Office Français de la Conjoncture Économique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partner for economic analysis and the ORGANIC CITIES conference series. Collaborates on systemic modeling and urban development research.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Architecture-Studio: Major French architecture practice with a dedicated urban-planning studio working on mixed-use, large-scale, and public-interest developments across France and internationally — comparable scale and public-sector orientation to VV.
• Urbaplan: Swiss urban-planning and mobility consultancy that advises municipalities on territorial development, densification, and participatory planning. Directly comparable professional-services model in a neighboring market.
• Iter Urbanisme: French urban-planning consultancy assisting local authorities with land-use strategies, PLUi/PLU elaboration, and operational development — directly comparable to VV's mission of working with territorial collectivities.
• TVK (Trévelo & Viger-Kohler): Paris-based architecture and urban-planning practice known for strategic metropolitan planning (e.g., Greater Paris) and for working with public institutions — closely matched to VV on client base and urban-design rigor.
• Agence Ter (Christian Devillers et Associés / Agence TER): French landscape architecture and urban-planning firm working with public-sector clients on master planning, eco-districts, and large-scale territorial projects — directly comparable to VV's public-sector, master-planning focus.
• ANMA (Agence Nicolas Michelin & Associés): French architecture and urbanism firm with strong public-sector commissions and a focus on resilient, low-carbon territorial projects. Overlaps with VV on integrated urban-planning approach and municipal clientele.

Broad incumbents

• SWECO (Urban Planning): European engineering and urban-planning consultancy delivering territorial and community-development projects for municipalities — comparable on public-sector workflow and dense-urbanism expertise.
• Wilmotte & Associés: Established French architecture and urban-planning firm with a long history of public-sector, housing, and master-planning commissions — a broader incumbent working with the same municipal clients as VV.
• MVRDV: Dutch architecture/urbanism firm with high-density, bottom-up, and data-driven urbanism projects across Europe — broader and larger incumbent, but conceptually adjacent to VV's data-led, community-centric densification models.
• ARUP (Urbanism + Cities practice): Global engineering/design consultancy with urban planning, master-planning, and city-system practices serving public-sector clients — comparable in client mix and methodology breadth to VV's enterprise offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/V_Vivantes
• Facebookfacebook.com/villesvivantes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/villes-vivantes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Villes Vivantes