Aupa | Agence d'urbanisme Pays d'Aix - Durance

What Aupa | Agence d'urbanisme Pays d'Aix - Durance does

Aupa (Agence d'urbanisme Pays d'Aix - Durance) is a French non-profit urban planning agency founded in 1977 and headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, operating under the Loi d'Orientation pour l'Aménagement et le Développement Durable du Territoire as an association loi 1901. It provides independent, multidisciplinary urban planning engineering services to public-sector partners across the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region — principally the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, 11 intercommunal structures, the French State (via DREAL, SGAR, Préfet), Région Sud, ARS PACA, and 40 member municipalities covering approximately 2 million inhabitants.

The agency delivers services through seven thematic workshops (Économie et Territoires, Habitat et Modes de Vie, Mobilités, Paysages et Projet Urbain, Prospective et Dynamiques Territoriales, Stratégies Territoriales et Foncières, and Transition Environnementale) that operate as interconnected modules covering regulatory document elaboration (SCoT, PLUi, PLH), strategic diagnostics, pre-operational urban design, and citizen participation (e.g., 'Dessine-moi' workshops). Underlying technology is centred on GIS-based territorial intelligence using Lizmap interactive web mapping (aupa.lizmap.com), and on a portfolio of regional observatories — including the Observatoire régional des centres-villes covering 142 city centres, the Observatoire des zones d'activités économiques, the Observatoire Territorial du Logement Étudiant, and the Portrait Agricole Métropolitain. Cross-cutting initiatives include 'L'Atelier des Transitions' (a 10-episode climate adaptation series) and the UrbaSanté PACA health-promoting urbanism network. The agency is embedded in the UrbaSud regional network of five PACA planning agencies and the national Fnau federation (52 agencies, 1,700 professionals).

AUPA generates no commercial revenue. Its business model is a subscription-like institutional partnership structure: member contributions from the State, intercommunalities, and communes fund the annual work programme, supplemented by project-specific public co-funding (notably from Région Sud, ADEME, and ARS PACA). Pricing is negotiated per project through annual partnership agreements and is not publicly disclosed. The agency operates with approximately 40–41 staff and reports no parent company, subsidiaries, or external funding rounds; it is governed by its institutional partners with a President and Director General.

Name

Aupa | Agence d'urbanisme Pays d'Aix - Durance

Legal name

Agence d'Urbanisme Pays d'Aix-Durance

Website

https://aupa.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aupa is a non-profit French urban planning agency founded in 1977 in Aix-en-Provence, providing independent multidisciplinary engineering — strategy, diagnostics, GIS-based observatories, and participatory design — to public-sector partners including 40 member municipalities, 11 intercommunal structures, the French State, and Région Sud across Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Planning Services

NAICS

Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Permitting & Impact Assessment (EIA/NEPA) (BPAIAMAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

NEPA/EA/EIS & Public Consultation (EUAHAAAB), Stakeholder Engagement, Indigenous/Tribal Consultation & Social Impact (SIA) (EUAHAAAH)

Keywords

• Urban planning services
• Territorial engineering
• Public sector consulting
• Spatial planning analysis
• Regional observatory studies

Headquarters

HQ city

Aix-en-Provence

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional membership and partnership fees: As an association loi 1901 governed by the Loi d'Orientation pour l'Aménagement et le Développement Durable du Territoire, AUPA is funded by contributions from its institutional partners: the State (État), intercommunal structures (Métropole, Communautés d'Agglomération, Communautés de communes, Pôles d'Équilibre Territorial et Rural), and member municipalities. These contributions finance the agency's annual work programme and operational costs. No commercial product pricing is disclosed — revenues are derived from statutory membership contributions and project-specific public funding.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Aupa is a non-profit public-interest urban planning agency that provides territorial engineering services to local authorities across the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It delivers strategic planning diagnostics, regulatory document elaboration (SCoT, PLUi, PLH), pre-operational urban design, participatory workshops, and longitudinal observation through regional observatories covering city centers, economic zones, housing, and agricultural land use.

Product overview

Aupa is a public urban planning agency structured as a modular service platform organized around seven thematic ateliers (workshops): Économie et Territoires, Habitat et Modes de Vie, Mobilités, Paysages et Projet Urbain, Prospective et Dynamiques Territoriales, Stratégies Territoriales et Foncières, and Transition Environnementale. The agency also operates cross-cutting initiatives including L'Atelier des Transitions (climate adaptation series) and the UrbaSanté PACA network (health-focused urbanism). Supporting platforms include observatories for city centers, economic zones, and housing. The ateliers function as interconnected service modules that collaborate on multi-thematic urban projects, with shared methodologies for territorial diagnosis, planning support, and citizen participation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UrbaSanté: A regional network of Urban Planning Favorable to Health (UFS), promoting healthy urban environments and climate adaptation in partnership with ARS, DREAL PACA, and Region Sud.
• L'Atelier des Transitions

Products and services

• Économie et Territoires Urban planning workshop focused on local economy observation and supporting local authorities in defining economic policies, covering commerce, tertiary real estate, productive land, and strategic sectors with spatial translation of public policies.
• Habitat et Modes de Vie Urban planning workshop addressing housing distribution and living conditions from neighborhood to regional scale, implementing local housing policies, conducting residential diagnostics, and exploring housing quality in new and existing stock.
• Mobilités Urban planning workshop providing strategic support to local authorities on mobility-related issues, developing sustainable, inclusive, and multimodal mobility policies including urban mobility plans, bike plans, and parking studies.
• Paysages et Projet Urbain Urban planning workshop combining architecture, landscape design, and urban planning expertise to conduct pre-operational studies, urban redynamization strategies, participatory urban planning workshops, and landscape analyses for planning documents.
• Prospective et Dynamiques Territoriales Urban planning workshop providing strategic and operational decision support through prospective analysis, decoding territorial data, and constructing shared visions of dynamics and challenges across territories.
• Stratégies Territoriales et Foncières Urban planning workshop providing decision support for planning and interdisciplinary strategic studies, covering territorial projects, regulatory documents (SCoT, PLU-i), land strategies, revitalization programming, and school equipment needs forecasting.
• Transition Environnementale Urban planning workshop accompanying local authorities in defining and implementing environmental policies covering biodiversity, climate, energy, environmental quality of urban planning, agriculture, and food systems.
• L'Atelier des Transitions Thematic series accelerating territorial transition toward more sober and resilient models, providing engineering support to local authorities from diagnosis to pre-operational urban planning with climate adaptation perspective.
• UrbaSanté PACA Regional network promoting Urbanism Favorable to Health (UFS) across Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, coordinated by five regional urban planning agencies and CAUE 05, providing tools, resources, data, and local experience sharing.
• Observatoire Régional des Centres-Villes Regional observatory tracking and analyzing city center dynamics across 142 regional centers, providing spatial, social, economic, commercial, and residential indicators for regional revitalization policies.
• Observatoire des Zones d'Activités Économiques Regional study providing methodological framework for constructing economic zone indicators, monitoring zone evolution, and guiding public decisions on optimizing existing economic spaces rather than consuming new land.
• Observatoire du Logement des Hautes-Alpes Two-year prefiguration mission to create a housing observatory for Hautes-Alpes department, structuring observation axes, updating initial data with evolution analysis, producing annual illustrated reports, and designing an evolving tool.
• Cotation de la Demande de Logement Social Regional analysis of social housing demand scoring systems across 18 intercommunalities, demonstrating diversity of scoring grids adapted to local contexts and challenges per ELAN 2018 law requirements.
• Portrait Agricole Métropolitain Comprehensive agricultural referential providing current transversal analysis of metropolitan agriculture, highlighting agricultural economy strengths and fragilities, evolution dynamics, and spatial distribution of new challenges.

Quantifiable outcome

• Obtained Level 3 of the Ademe Climat-Air-Energie label, demonstrating coherent and articulated sectoral policies across the territory.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• UrbaSud (Réseau des agences d'urbanisme de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrbaSud is the regional network uniting all five urban planning agencies of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (AUPA, AGAM, AUA, AUDAT, AURAV). It provides regional coherence, coordinated responses to cross-border planning challenges, shared studies, mutualised resources, and a unified interlocutor for the Région, State, and institutional partners. AUPA is an active participant in UrbaSud's shared observatories (centres-villes, ZAE) and knowledge platforms.
• Fédération Nationale des Agences d'Urbanisme (Fnau)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Fnau is the national federation of French urban planning agencies, bringing together 52 agencies and 1,700 professionals. It enables AUPA to capitalise on practices, mutualise knowledge, share experiences, and contribute to major national debates on urban policy and the future of cities. AUPA hosts national Fnau working groups (e.g., the Atlas des centres-villes) and participates in the annual Rencontres des agences d'urbanisme.
• UrbaSanté PACA (Plan Régional Santé Environnement — PRSE 4)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrbaSanté PACA is a regional network for Health-Promoting Urbanism (UFS/Urbansime Favorable à la Santé), co-piloted by ARS PACA, DREAL PACA, and Région Sud under the PRSE 4 (2022–2027). AUPA is the lead agency for the AUPA/Bouches-du-Rhône zone, coordinating with four other regional urban planning agencies and the CAUE 05. The network provides tools, resources, data, sensitisation, and direct accompaniment to territorial stakeholders for integrating health into urban plans, programmes, and projects.
• Métropole Aix-Marseille-ProvencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence is AUPA's principal intercommunal member and a key strategic partner. AUPA provides extensive engineering support across the full range of metropolitan planning: PLUi elaboration, mobility strategies, biodiversity and climate strategies, agricultural portrait, housing observatory, and urban heat mapping. This is a flagship, ongoing partnership covering the agency's full service spectrum.
• Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Région Sud)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRégion Sud is a major institutional partner and co-funder of multiple AUPA initiatives, including the UrbaSud network studies, the regional centre-villes observatory (with SGAR), agricultural referentials, ZAE observation tools, and the UrbaSanté PACA network. AUPA participates in the Région's territorial knowledge platforms and strategic planning processes.
• DREAL Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe DREAL PACA is a state regional directorate and co-pilot of the UrbaSanté PACA network and PRSE 4. It partners with AUPA on environmental planning, regional centre-villes observation, regional agriculture strategies, and the regional urban planning knowledge platform (Plateforme Connaissance du territoire).
• ARS PACA (Agence Régionale de Santé)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerARS PACA co-pilots the UrbaSanté PACA network and PRSE 4, providing funding and health policy integration for AUPA's health-promoting urbanism work. The partnership enables integration of health indicators into urban planning documents across the region.
• Prefect of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Préfet de région)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Préfet de région PACA is a member of right (membre de droit) of AUPA, representing the State's regional interest in territorial planning and development. The State's involvement legitimises AUPA's role as a public planning engineering body.
• Établissement Public Foncier (EPF) PACAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPF PACA is a long-standing operational partner of AUPA, providing land banking and reclamation expertise that complements AUPA's urban planning studies. The partnership enables coordinated approaches to land stewardship and revitalisation projects.
• Action LogementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAction Logement partners with AUPA on housing studies, including the 'Panorama Emploi-Logement' for Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, social housing attribution policies, and the 'Confort d'été dans la rénovation de l'habitat social' initiative. The partnership supports housing policy analysis and implementation.
• Aix-Marseille-Université (AMU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAMU is a partner in AUPA's work on higher education observation, student housing observatory (OTLE), and joint research initiatives such as the POPSU (Plateforme d'Observation des Projets et Stratégies Urbaines) intensification metropolitan studies conducted with the ENSA-Marseille.
• Chambre d'agriculture des Bouches-du-RhôneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Chamber of Agriculture co-contributed to the metropolitan agricultural portrait (Portrait Agricole Métropolitain 2025/2026), providing agricultural expertise and data that enrich AUPA's environmental and land use planning work.
• CAUE des Hautes-Alpes (Conseil d'Architecture, d'Urbanisme et d'Environnement)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAUE 05 is a partner in the UrbaSanté PACA network, contributing expertise on health-promoting urbanism alongside the five regional urban planning agencies. CAUE brings an independent advisory perspective on architecture and environment.
• AGAM (Agence d'urbanisme de l'agglomération Marseillaise)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAGAM is the Marseille-based sister urban planning agency and UrbaSud partner. AGAM and AUPA co-produce major metropolitan studies including the OTLE (student housing observatory), centre-villes observatory, economic zone studies, and metropolitan portrait publications.
• CCIAMP (Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Aix Marseille Provence)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCIAMP co-produced the Atlas des zones d'activités du Pays d'Aix with AUPA, providing business and commerce data that enriches AUPA's economic and territorial analyses.
• SPLA Pays d'Aix TerritoiresminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSPLA (Société Publique Locale d'Aménagement) is a public land development company operating in the Pays d'Aix. It partners with AUPA on commercial observatory initiatives and urban revitalisation projects, translating planning strategies into operational development.
• Durance Luberon Verdon Agglomération (DLVA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDLVA is a major intercommunal member of AUPA, receiving support on PLH (habitat programme), global mobility plans, cycling strategies, and housing observation. AUPA has an ongoing multi-year engagement with DLVA across multiple workshops.
• PETR du Pays d'ArlescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPETR (Pôle d'Équilibre Territorial et Rural) du Pays d'Arles is an intercommunal member receiving AUPA support for SCoT revision, territorial project 2045, food territory project (PAT), and centre revitalisation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Institut Paris Region (formerly IAU Île-de-France): The largest French urban planning agency, serving the Île-de-France region with a much broader portfolio (research, observatories, planning support) than AUPA. Operates under an analogous statutory framework but at greater scale, functioning as a benchmark and methodological reference for AUPA.

Direct peers

• ADUAM (Atelier de Développement Urbain des Alpes-Maritimes): Alpes-Maritimes urban planning body providing engineering support to Nice-area communes, intercommunalities and the Département. Same statutory framework and PACA focus as AUPA, making it a structurally direct peer for member-funded planning mandates.
• AUA (Agence d'urbanisme d'Avignon): Avignon-area urban planning agency and UrbaSud member operating under the same French legal framework as AUPA. Comparable in team size, member-base composition, and workshop-based service delivery to Vaucluse local authorities.
• AURAV (Agence d'urbanisme de Vaucluse): Vaucluse-based urban planning agency operating under the same association loi 1901 model as AUPA and member of UrbaSud. Comparable scope (SCoT, PLUi, observatories, regional development) and similar size profile, serving an overlapping PACA client base.
• AGAM (Agence d'urbanisme de l'agglomération marseillaise): Marseille-based sister urban planning agency and UrbaSud co-member. AGAM shares AUPA's statutory association loi 1901 model, Fnau membership, and PACA territorial mandate, co-producing regional observatories (centres-villes, OTLE, ZAE) and metropolitan studies.
• AUDAT (Agence d'urbanisme du Var): Var-based agence d'urbanisme and fellow UrbaSud member, structurally identical to AUPA in governance, financing model, and service portfolio (SCoT, PLH, PLUi, observatories). Direct competitor for departmental and intercommunal mandates in PACA.

Regional players

• AUAT (Agence d'urbanisme et d'aménagement Toulouse aire urbaine): Toulouse metropolitan urban planning agency operating under the same Fnau-aligned association framework as AUPA. Comparable mix of strategic planning (SCoT, PLUi), observatory work, and member-funded engineering support, but serving Occitanie rather than PACA.
• ADEUS (Agence de développement et d'urbanisme de l'agglomération strasbourgeoise): Strasbourg-area urban planning agency operating under the same LOADDTDT association loi 1901 model as AUPA, but serving the Alsace region. Provides a comparable benchmark for an out-of-region agence d'urbanisme with similar workshop structure and observatory practice.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agence-urbanisme-pays-d-aix-durance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Aupa | Agence d'urbanisme Pays d'Aix - Durance