Labo Cités

What Labo Cités does

Labo Cités is a French non-profit association headquartered at 4 rue de Narvik, 69008 Lyon, operating as the dedicated regional resource center (centre de ressources) for politique de la ville in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Founded in 1993 (originally as CR-DSU, Centre de ressources développement social urbain, before rebranding to Labo Cités and formalizing a region-wide structure in 2015 following French territorial reorganization), the organization supports urban policy practitioners across all 12 departments of the region. Its audience comprises local authorities (collectivités), associations and non-profits, and individual urban-policy professionals — elected officials, project managers, ASV/CLS/CLSM coordinators, health mediators, and PRE teams — who implement programs in priority neighborhoods (QPV) serving an indicated 853,000+ residents.

The platform delivers a portfolio of information and knowledge-sharing services: thematic publications (Les Cahiers du Développement Social Urbain, priced 17-20 EUR per issue), experience sheets (fiches expériences), territorial cartographies, a Q&A service, a job board, and a news-monitoring feed (La veille via ScoopIt). Core products are organized by theme — politique de la ville, economy/employment/innovation, urbanism/housing, citizen participation, education/youth, equality/anti-discrimination, secularism/citizenship, social development, health, and transitions — and are delivered through a website built on a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) open-source stack, co-developed by web agencies Tadaa and Nethink and hosted by Infomaniak, with content published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Beyond digital content, the organization runs an active program of in-person 'rencontres' (encounters) and webinars across the region — including 12 departmental meetings on gender equality in 2024-2025 with the DRDFE and Commissariat à la lutte contre la pauvreté — and coordinates multiple thematic networks including Collectif santé and a regional health mediator network that grew from 77 to 85 mediators between 2025 and 2026.

Revenue is generated through three streams: recurring annual membership fees (adhésion) from collectivities, associations, and individuals (pricing not publicly disclosed), one-time publication sales (17-20 EUR per issue), and recurring public funding from institutional partners including Préfecture Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, ANCT, Grand Lyon, ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and CAF Rhône. The 1-10 employee organization has no venture or private-equity backing and operates with a Director (Fabien Bressan), an information-communications lead (Muriel Salort), mission officers, and administrative staff.

Name

Labo Cités

Legal name

Labo Cités

Website

https://labo-cites.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Labo Cités is a Lyon-based non-profit resource center supporting urban policy practitioners across the 12 departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes through publications, experience sheets, regional encounters, and thematic networks on social development, health, equality, and citizenship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Labo Cités offers membership (adhésion) to collectivities, associations, and individuals, providing privileged access to exchange, training, and information resources.
2. Publication sales: Sale of publications including Cahiers du Développement Social Urbain and thematic booklets. Publications range from 17 EUR to 20 EUR per item. Members receive preferential access and free downloads.
3. Public funding: Core operations funded by institutional public partners including Préfecture Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, ANCT, Grand Lyon, ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, CAF, and other regional/cational public bodies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Labo Cités is a resource center (centre de ressources) for urban policy (politique de la ville) in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It produces and disseminates publications (Cahiers du Développement Social Urbain, Sites & Cités), experience sheets, territorial cartographies, a Q&A support service, a job board, and a news monitoring service, and it organizes regional professional encounters (rencontres) and thematic networks for practitioners and local authorities.

Product overview

Labo Cités operates as a resource center for urban policy (politique de la ville) in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, functioning as a content aggregation and dissemination platform rather than a traditional software product. The platform offers a portfolio of information and knowledge-sharing services including publications (Les Cahiers du Développement Social Urbain, Sites & Cités), documented experience sheets, regional meetings and training events, a Q&A service, a news monitoring service (La veille via ScoopIt), territorial mapping tools, and a job board. Content is organized thematically across domains including urban policy, economy and employment, education, health, social development, and environmental transitions. The platform primarily serves as an information hub rather than a technical software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Publications (Cahiers du Développement Social Urbain, Sites & Cités) Themed print and digital publications documenting urban policy, social development, and related topics in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Sold at fixed prices (17-20 EUR per issue) with preferential access for members.
• Fiches expériences (Experience sheets) Documented local initiatives and field experiences from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region covering topics such as sports, education, social development, health, and citizen participation. Available to professionals and local authorities.
• Rencontres (Regional events and training) Regional meetings, training sessions, workshops, and conferences on urban policy themes, organized in partnership with institutional actors across the 12 departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
• Service Questions/Réponses A direct question-and-answer support service that allows members and practitioners to submit inquiries about urban policy topics and receive expert responses from the Labo Cités team.
• La veille de Labo Cités (News monitoring) Curated news monitoring service aggregating current developments in urban policy and social development, accessible via ScoopIt and RSS feeds.
• Cartographies (Territorial mapping) Interactive maps and territorial data visualizations showing priority neighborhoods (QPV) and policy interventions across the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
• Offres d'emploi (Job board) Job posting relay service for positions related to urban policy in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes; initially open to all and reserved for members after a transition period.
• Espace doc (Document repository) Document library providing access to resources, reports, and reference materials on urban policy for practitioners, associations, and local authorities.
• Membership (Adhésion) Annual membership for collectivities, associations, and individuals providing privileged access to publications, training, networks, and Q&A services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 853,000+ residents in priority neighborhoods served through policy programs in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Préfecture de la région Auvergne-Rhône-AlpescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional prefecture of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, listed as a key institutional partner of Labo Cités resource center for urban policy.
• Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires (ANCT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational agency for territorial cohesion, key institutional partner supporting urban policy initiatives and Labo Cités activities.
• Grand Lyon (Métropole de Lyon)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMetropolitan authority of Lyon, institutional partner of Labo Cités for urban policy in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
• ARS Auvergne-Rhône-AlpescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional Health Agency of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, co-organizer of health mediator network meetings and health-related events with Labo Cités. Joint initiatives include Collectif santé network and health mediation strategy.
• CAF RhônecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCaisse d'Allocations Familiales (Family Allowances Fund) of Rhône department, institutional partner of Labo Cités.
• Direction régionale aux droits des femmes et à l'égalité (DRDFE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional directorate for women's rights and equality, co-organizer with Labo Cités of 12 departmental encounters on integrating gender equality in poverty reduction projects.
• Commissariat à la lutte contre la pauvretécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommission for poverty reduction, supporting the 12 departmental encounters organized by Labo Cités on gender equality and poverty.
• PerfégalminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTraining provider offering distance learning sessions to complement Labo Cités encounters on integrating gender equality in poverty reduction projects.
• Université de NîmesminorOthersAcademic institution contributing research expertise, including Clément Perrier, maître de conférence en sociologie presenting on sport-health networks.
• Université Lyon 1minorOthersAcademic institution contributing research on sport and health sociology, including Claire Perrin, professeure en sociologie du sport et de la santé.
• ANLCI (Agence nationale de lutte contre l'illettrisme)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational agency against illiteracy, coordinating the 'Je clique donc j'apprends' digital literacy action with center resource illettrisme de l'Ain (ECRIT 01).
• Pôle Santé ChambéryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare center in Chambéry presenting on participatory practices in multidisciplinary health houses in priority neighborhoods (IMPACT experiment).
• Réseau régional des médiateurs en santécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional network of health mediators coordinated by Labo Cités and ARS. Network grew from 77 mediators (2025) to 85 mediators (2026) intervening in QPV and rural areas.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/share.php?u=https://www.labo-cites.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.labo-cites.org

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Labo Cités