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Programmes for towns and territories
Whether the State's programmes for towns and territories changed jobs and income in the communes they chose.
Action cœur de ville, Petites villes de demain and Territoires d'industrie fund projects in the places they name; no single budget line gives their cost. This page compares their communes with matched communes in none of them. By 2025 private jobs had changed by in the small towns of Petites villes de demain and by in Territoires d'industrie, neither distinguishable from zero. Action cœur de ville cannot be evaluated this way.
Evidence
Three programmes since 2018 have named the places they help rather than the firms: Action cœur de ville (222 medium towns, 2018), Petites villes de demain (about 1,600 small towns, mostly 2021) and Territoires d'industrie (149 industrial territories, 2018). They fund engineering, studies and projects through several ministries and the Banque des Territoires, so no single budget line gives their cost. Each is evaluated like the ZRR: its communes against matched communes in none of them, with a fake start five years earlier.
Show the data as a table
| Outcome | Design | Year | Estimate | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private-sector jobs | Action cœur de ville: towns named in 2018 | 2025 | -3.9% | -8.6% to +0.8% |
| Private-sector jobs | Action cœur de ville: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -1.9% | -4.9% to +1.1% |
| Private-sector jobs | Petites villes de demain: towns signed in 2021 | 2025 | +0.0% | -1.7% to +1.7% |
| Private-sector jobs | Petites villes de demain: placebo, fake start in 2015 | 2020 | +0.2% | -1.4% to +1.8% |
| Private-sector jobs | Territoires d'industrie: 2018 communes | 2025 | +0.4% | -2.1% to +2.9% |
| Private-sector jobs | Territoires d'industrie: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -0.8% | -2.5% to +0.9% |
| Employer establishments | Action cœur de ville: towns named in 2018 | 2025 | -4.0% | -7.5% to -0.4% |
| Employer establishments | Action cœur de ville: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -3.6% | -6.4% to -0.8% |
| Employer establishments | Petites villes de demain: towns signed in 2021 | 2025 | +0.4% | -0.8% to +1.6% |
| Employer establishments | Petites villes de demain: placebo, fake start in 2015 | 2020 | -1.1% | -2.3% to +0.1% |
| Employer establishments | Territoires d'industrie: 2018 communes | 2025 | +0.0% | -1.5% to +1.6% |
| Employer establishments | Territoires d'industrie: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -1.0% | -2.2% to +0.2% |
| Tax households | Action cœur de ville: towns named in 2018 | 2024 | +0.1% | -1.8% to +2.1% |
| Tax households | Action cœur de ville: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -1.4% | -2.7% to -0.2% |
| Tax households | Petites villes de demain: towns signed in 2021 | 2024 | +0.0% | -0.5% to +0.5% |
| Tax households | Petites villes de demain: placebo, fake start in 2015 | 2020 | +0.1% | -1.4% to +1.5% |
| Tax households | Territoires d'industrie: 2018 communes | 2024 | -0.9% | -1.4% to -0.4% |
| Tax households | Territoires d'industrie: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -0.2% | -0.6% to +0.3% |
| Income per household | Action cœur de ville: towns named in 2018 | 2024 | -0.8% | -2.9% to +1.2% |
| Income per household | Action cœur de ville: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | -0.5% | -1.6% to +0.7% |
| Income per household | Petites villes de demain: towns signed in 2021 | 2024 | -0.3% | -0.8% to +0.1% |
| Income per household | Petites villes de demain: placebo, fake start in 2015 | 2020 | -0.4% | -1.0% to +0.2% |
| Income per household | Territoires d'industrie: 2018 communes | 2024 | +0.0% | -0.5% to +0.6% |
| Income per household | Territoires d'industrie: placebo, fake start in 2012 | 2017 | +0.5% | -0.1% to +1.1% |
By 2025, private jobs in the small towns of Petites villes de demain had moved by relative to their matches, and in the communes of Territoires d'industrie by . The placebos pass, and neither programme's change in jobs, employers or income can be distinguished from zero, except a census fall in industrial jobs in Territoires d'industrie (), which no placebo can check. The 95% intervals exclude a change in private jobs of more than about 2% in the small towns and 3% in the industrial territories, whose programme is the older. Action cœur de ville cannot be evaluated this way: its medium towns have too few comparable towns in their regions, fewer than 10 of 100 matching draws pass the balance check, and its placebo shows the towns already losing employers before 2018 (), consistent with the programme's selection criteria.
By event study and synthetic difference-in-differences. The matching pairs each commune with one comparison. Three estimators built for programmes that start at different dates compare the whole group year by year instead: the event study of Callaway and Sant'Anna against communes never treated, the same against communes not yet treated, and synthetic difference-in-differences, which reweights the comparison communes and years. Each runs against two comparison groups: far communes, in none of the three programmes and more than 10 km from one in it, and eligible towns, which met the programme's published criteria but were not chosen. The overall effect on private jobs to 2025, by the three estimators in that order:
- Action cœur de ville: against far communes , and ; against eligible towns , and .
- Petites villes de demain: against far communes , and ; against eligible towns , and .
- Territoires d'industrie: against far communes , and ; against eligible towns , and .
Territoires d'industrie shows no effect by any of them, and its communes moved with their comparisons before 2018: the matched finding holds. For the two town programmes the averages are negative but cannot be read as effects. Before the start the chosen towns were already losing private jobs against the eligible ones, by about 0.8% a year, and the test of equal trends before the start rejects them against both groups; after the start the gap goes on opening at about the same pace. Synthetic difference-in-differences, which fits the years before the start, finds nothing for Action cœur de ville against eligible towns, and for Petites villes de demain a drop that appears at once in the year the conventions were signed, as a selection on that year's shock would and engineering support would not. The matching, which pairs towns on their jobs in three earlier years, finds no effect for Petites villes de demain and cannot balance Action cœur de ville. None of the three programmes measurably raised private jobs.
The criteria and how each comparison group is drawn are in SOURCES.md; the estimates for every year, cohort and outcome are in did.csv, the communes that met each programme's criteria in eligible.csv. The code is analysis/places_did.ml, with the estimators of lib/did.ml.
Territoires d'industrie communes for 2018 are placed by whether their centre falls inside the official 2022 perimeters, since no commune list was published. Intervals are 95% confidence intervals with standard errors clustered by département. The code is analysis/places.ml and the results are in results.csv.
Its own aims
Measured against what it was meant to do
Each aim as the scheme's own texts state it, quoted, then every outcome this site measured against it, with the same design as above: the matched comparison, or the synthetic control. Positive, negative and null results are listed alike. Where no open dataset covers an aim, the dataset it would need is named, with why it is not open. Before them, the article of law that founds the scheme, quoted from Légifrance or the parliamentary record with the dates its wording was in force; after them, the indicators the State set for the programme, as the State reports them, with their source: this site shows them but has not checked them.
In the law, or the nearest official text
Each aim as the founding text states it, with the article and the dates that wording was in force. Where an article states no aim, a line says so, and the aim is quoted from the nearest official text that states one: the bill's explanatory memorandum or impact study, a government instruction, or the programme's performance report.
The ANCT carries out the State's policy of territorial cohesion through national territorialised programmes
« II.-L'agence assure la mise en œuvre de la politique de l'Etat en matière d'aménagement durable et de cohésion des territoires en conduisant des programmes nationaux territorialisés et en prévoyant la mise en œuvre déconcentrée de ces programmes au moyen de contrats de cohésion territoriale. »Code général des collectivités territoriales (created by loi n° 2019-753 du 22 juillet 2019 portant création d'une Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires), art. L1231-2, II, in force since 2025-06-18 (LEGIARTI000051749429, modified by loi n° 2025-541 du 16 juin 2025, art. 2); first version 2019-07-24 to 2021-08-25 (LEGIARTI000038804535) adds « selon des modalités précisées par décret, » after « en prévoyant, »
No law creates ACV, PVD or TI; this is the statutory basis of the agency that runs them.
Help local authorities with projects for services, housing and the commercial revitalisation of town and village centres
« de conseiller et de soutenir les collectivités territoriales et leurs groupements mentionnés à l'article L. 5111-1 du présent code dans la conception, la définition et la mise en œuvre de leurs projets, notamment en faveur de l'accès aux services publics, de l'accès aux soins dans le respect des articles L. 1431-1 et L. 1431-2 du code de la santé publique, du logement, dont la rénovation de l'habitat dégradé et la transformation des bâtiments à destination autre que d'habitation en habitations, des mobilités, de la mobilisation pour les quartiers prioritaires de la politique de la ville et les quartiers urbains en difficulté, de la revitalisation, notamment commerciale et artisanale, des centres-villes et centres-bourgs »Code général des collectivités territoriales, art. L1231-2, I, in force since 2025-06-18 (LEGIARTI000051749429)
Statutory mission of the ANCT, not an aim of a programme.
Modernise housing, shops and the urban fabric to make the territory more attractive, and fight vacant dwellings and shops and substandard housing
« Les opérations de revitalisation de territoire ont pour objet la mise en œuvre d'un projet global de territoire destiné à adapter et moderniser le parc de logements et de locaux commerciaux et artisanaux ainsi que le tissu urbain de ce territoire pour améliorer son attractivité, lutter contre la vacance des logements et des locaux commerciaux et artisanaux ainsi que contre l'habitat indigne, réhabiliter l'immobilier de loisir, valoriser le patrimoine bâti et réhabiliter les friches urbaines, dans une perspective de mixité sociale, d'innovation et de développement durable. »Code de la construction et de l'habitation (created by loi n° 2018-1021 du 23 novembre 2018 portant évolution du logement, de l'aménagement et du numérique, art. 157), art. L303-2, I, premier alinéa, first version, in force 2018-11-25 to 2020-01-01 (LEGIARTI000037653140); same first sentence in the version in force on 2026-10-09 (LEGIARTI000054142528)
The only statutory text behind ACV and PVD: each ACV convention is worth an ORT and each PVD convention-cadre is one; the programmes themselves have no law.
Revitalise the centres of medium-sized towns
« Il s’agit d’une démarche pluriannuelle en faveur de la revitalisation des centres-villes des agglomérations de taille moyenne impliquant à titre principal l’Etat, la Caisse des dépôts et consignations, le groupe Action logement et l’Agence nationale de l’habitat, ainsi que d’autres agences et acteurs nationaux et locaux. »Instruction du Gouvernement du 16 avril 2018 relative au programme « Action Coeur de ville » : annonce des villes bénéficiaires et étapes d'élaboration des conventions-cadres pluriannuelles (NOR TERR1810707C), Légifrance circulaire n° 43273, letter to the préfets, first paragraph, signed 16 avril 2018; BO MTES-MCT n° 2018/5 du 25 mai 2018
No law creates the programme; this government instruction is the most official text that defines it. The first instruction, of 10 January 2018 (NOR TERR1800859C, circulaire n° 42909), could not be retrieved.
Revitalise town centres and make them attractive again
« lorsqu’elles relèvent des objectifs du programme (revitaliser et redonner de l’attractivité au centre des agglomérations) »Instruction du Gouvernement du 16 avril 2018 relative au programme « Action Coeur de ville » (NOR TERR1810707C), Légifrance circulaire n° 43273, letter to the préfets, signed 16 avril 2018
Same instruction; the parenthesis is its only explicit statement of the programme's objectives.
Five compulsory axes: attractive housing, balanced economic and commercial development, accessibility and mobility, urban form and heritage, access to public services
« La convention comporte ensuite cinq axes thématiques obligatoires intitulés ainsi : - De la réhabilitation à la restructuration : vers une offre attractive de l’habitat en centre-ville - Favoriser un développement économique et commercial équilibré - Développer l’accessibilité, la mobilité et les connexions - Mettre en valeur les formes urbaines, l’espace public et le patrimoine - Fournir l’accès aux équipements et services publics »Instruction du Gouvernement du 16 avril 2018 relative au programme « Action Coeur de ville » (NOR TERR1810707C), Légifrance circulaire n° 43273, annexe 2, 5- Axes thématiques des contrats, signed 16 avril 2018
The five axes that the ANCT's page lists, quoted among the programme's texts, come from this instruction; the quote joins its list items with spaces.
Improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of small towns and the rural areas around them
« poursuit l'objectif d'améliorer la qualité de vie des habitants des petites villes et territoires ruraux alentours, dans des territoires dynamiques et engagés dans la transition écologique. »Instruction « Petites villes de demain - renforcer l'impact du programme dans tous les territoires en 2023 » (NOR IOML2312174J), Légifrance circulaire n° 45443, letter to the préfets, first paragraph, signed 24 mai 2023
No law creates PVD, and no 2020 founding instruction is on Légifrance; this 2023 instruction is the most official text found that states its objective. Its PDF is a scan: the quote was read from the OCR layer, which has no error in this passage.
Develop industry in the territories by linking local officials and manufacturers, on skills, attractiveness of industrial jobs, innovation and land
« Depuis 2018, le programme Territoires d’industrie s’attache à renforcer les liens entre élus locaux et industriels pour créer un terreau fertile au développement industriel de nos territoires et travailler sur les enjeux de compétences, d’attractivité des métiers, d’écosystèmes d’innovation, de disponibilités foncières… »« Territoires d'industrie. Lancement du temps II 2023-2027 », dossier de presse du 9 novembre 2023 (ministère de la Transition écologique et de la Cohésion des territoires, ministère chargé de l'industrie, ANCT), éditorial de Christophe Béchu, ministre de la Transition écologique et de la Cohésion des territoires, published 9 novembre 2023
No law, decree or circulaire on Légifrance founds the programme (launched by the Prime Minister at the Conseil national de l'industrie on 22 November 2018); the 2018 launch pages on info.gouv.fr and economie.gouv.fr refused access (403), so this ministerial press kit is the most official text read.
In the programme's texts
Action cœur de ville's towns find matches that pass the balance check in only 9 of 100 draws, and their bassins de vie in 4, so its rows below describe these towns but cannot be read as the programme's effects.
From 2015 to 2020, before Petites villes de demain, the bassins de vie of its towns moved against their matched bassins by in shops (95% interval -3.4 to +0.2) and by in services (95% interval -5.3 to -2.6), so the bassin rows below cannot tell the programme from that earlier drift.
Action cœur de ville: better living conditions in medium towns
« améliorer les conditions de vie des habitants des villes moyennes »Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, Action cœur de ville, Présentation (consultée le 15 octobre 2026), 2026
- Population (census): (95% interval -1.8 to +1.6).
- Net migration, per 1,000 inhabitants: (95% interval -18.6 to +16.4).
- Tax households: (95% interval -1.8 to +2.1).
- Income per household: (95% interval -2.9 to +1.2).
Action cœur de ville: a balanced economic and commercial development
« Favoriser un développement économique et commercial équilibré. »Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, Action cœur de ville, Cinq axes, axe 2 (consultée le 15 octobre 2026), 2026
- Employer establishments: (95% interval -7.5 to -0.4).
- Private-sector jobs: (95% interval -8.6 to +0.8).
- Jobs at the place of work (census): (95% interval -2.4 to +3.6).
- Shops in the bassin de vie: (95% interval -19.4 to -0.5).
- Land taken for economic activity, m² per household: (95% interval -0.7 to +9.9).
Action cœur de ville: attractive housing, from renovation to restructuring
« De la réhabilitation à la restructuration : vers une offre attractive de l’habitat. »Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, Action cœur de ville, Cinq axes, axe 1 (consultée le 15 octobre 2026), 2026
- Vacant private dwellings: (95% interval -15.3 to +3.5).
- Private dwellings vacant for over two years: (95% interval -22.7 to +16.1).
- Median price per m² of dwellings sold: (95% interval -7.8 to +0.1).
- Land taken for housing, m² per household: (95% interval -0.5 to +14.2).
Action cœur de ville: a base of services in each town
« Constituer un socle de services dans chaque ville. »Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, Action cœur de ville, Cinq axes, axe 5 (consultée le 15 octobre 2026), 2026
- Services in the bassin de vie: (95% interval -11.7 to -1.8).
Petites villes de demain: better quality of life and revitalised small centres
« Ce programme vise à améliorer la qualité de vie des habitants et habitantes »Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, Petites villes de demain, Objectifs (consultée le 15 octobre 2026), 2026
- Tax households: (95% interval -0.5 to +0.5).
- Income per household: (95% interval -0.8 to +0.1).
- Private-sector jobs: (95% interval -1.7 to +1.7).
- Employer establishments: (95% interval -0.8 to +1.6).
- Shops in the bassin de vie: (95% interval -3.0 to +0.5).
- Services in the bassin de vie: (95% interval -4.2 to -1.5).
- Vacant private dwellings: (95% interval -2.0 to +2.9).
- Private dwellings vacant for over two years: (95% interval -2.2 to +4.5).
- Median price per m² of dwellings sold: (95% interval -2.8 to +1.1).
- Median price per m² of dwellings sold, from 2021: (95% interval -2.3 to +1.6).
- Land taken for housing, m² per household: (95% interval -3.3 to +2.7).
- Land taken for economic activity, m² per household: (95% interval -2.5 to +4.3).
Territoires d'industrie: win back industry
« afin de déployer une stratégie de reconquête industrielle « par et pour les territoires » »Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, Territoires d’industrie, Présentation (consultée le 15 octobre 2026), 2026
- Industrial jobs (census): (95% interval -11.0 to -1.0).
- Jobs at the place of work (census): (95% interval -1.1 to +1.1).
- Private-sector jobs: (95% interval -2.1 to +2.9).
- Employer establishments: (95% interval -1.5 to +1.6).
- Land taken for economic activity, m² per household: (95% interval -7.2 to +0.2).
The State's own indicators
The indicators the State reports for the programme, with the latest value and the target as it prints them, the report and page they come from, and the open data that could measure each at this site's unit.
| Indicator | Latest value | Target | This site's measure | Source | Open data that could measure it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P112-2-1, programme 112Soutenir efficacement les collectivités en demande d’ingénierie pour accélérer leurs projets spécifiques : Nombre de projets accompagnés « en propre » et sur mesure par des services ou des programmes de l’ANCT | 5162025 | 8002025 | not measured | RAP 2025 (PLRG 2025), data.economie.gouv.frRAP 2025 dataset, programme 112, indicator P112-2-1, sous-indicateur « Nombre de projets accompagnés « en propre » et sur mesure par des services ou des programmes de l’ANCT »; cible 2026 (PAP 2026, carried in the RAP 2025 dataset): 625 | No open data measures it: the ANCT does not publish the projects it accompanies by commune or by programme. |
| P112-2-1, programme 112Soutenir efficacement les collectivités en demande d’ingénierie pour accélérer leurs projets spécifiques : Nombre de projets impliquant un prestataire issu du contrat-cadre d’ingénierie | 4342025 | 5002025 | not measured | RAP 2025 (PLRG 2025), data.economie.gouv.frRAP 2025 dataset, programme 112, indicator P112-2-1, sous-indicateur « Nombre de projets impliquant un prestataire issu du contrat-cadre d’ingénierie »; cible 2026 (PAP 2026, carried in the RAP 2025 dataset): 525 | No open data measures it: the ANCT does not publish the projects it accompanies by commune or by programme. |
| MDB-1-1, Mission ÉconomieNombre net de nouveaux sites industriels et d'extensions significatives de sites industriels : Nombre net de nouveaux sites industriels et d'extensions significatives de sites industriels | 192025 | none set | not measured | RAP 2025 (PLRG 2025), data.economie.gouv.fr, indicateur de missionRAP 2025 dataset, mission record MDB-1-1, sous-indicateur « Nombre net de nouveaux sites industriels et d'extensions significatives de sites industriels »; objectif MDB-1 « Faciliter le développement des sites industriels »; exec 2023: 189, exec 2024: 88; no target. The closest indicator to the aim of Territoires d'industrie; no indicator names the programme; cible 2026 (PAP 2026, carried in the RAP 2025 dataset): none set | No open data found: no open file lists the openings, closures and extensions behind the count by commune, so it cannot be split between Territoires d'industrie and other communes. |
The census outcomes compare 2021 with 2015, so they serve only designs that start in 2015-2017, and no placebo can be run on them; land taken comes from CEREMA's land-registry series, 2011-2024. The aims and their sources are in aims.csv, the texts of law in law.csv, the State's indicators in indicators.csv, and this site's measures of them in measured.csv and, year by year, measured_series.csv.