At the Capucins market, the mayor (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, EELV) of Bordeaux has his habits. Every Sunday for almost twenty-five years, he has liked to shop there and, since his election in 2020, he has not wanted to change his weekly ritual; he likes to call the market his « permanence » of elected. Here, he greets, listens, exchanges. More discreet than his predecessor Alain Juppé, accustomed to selfies and always a local figure, Pierre Hurmic, he makes his rounds without attracting crowds.
“It’s the next world”, ironically the city councilor and his team. Pierre Hurmic shows himself alone on January 14 in the alleys of the Capuchins, without his wife, who prefers to remain in the shadows. Also far from the figure of Isabelle Juppé, whose face everyone knew and hailed the charisma. “I don’t have the same personality as Alain Juppé and times have changed”, specifies the chosen one.
He prefers ” move towards ” those who are not necessarily of his political allegiance, but who remain to be convinced. He who tipped, in July 2020, the city ruled for seventy-three years by the right – Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Alain Juppé, Hugues Martin and Nicolas Florian. “The worst enemies are lazy conservatives, those who think we can carry on as before. I was elected on a concept “the world is changing, let’s change Bordeaux””, explains Pierre Hurmic.
However, in the city, the change is for the time being difficult to perceive. Many criticize its first magistrate for the lack of major projects in the Gironde capital. Conversely, here again, the madness of grandeur of Alain Juppé, who wanted to make Bordeaux “a millionaire city” in inhabitants. Bordeaux is still in the image of the former Prime Minister, the renovated quays, the tramway, the Matmut Atlantique stadium. But Pierre Hurmic has a completely different vision: “I am more attached to urbanity than to town planning. How do we live together in Bordeaux, how do we manage to create a city that is less concrete, less predatory of ecosystems, protective of the last spaces of nature. »
“Not necessarily a global base”
His great pride, “It is to have gone on July 22, 2022 to the UN platform. The city of Bordeaux was chosen at our request to be the capital of the World Forum for the Social and Solidarity Economy, because we have given great priority to the establishment of companies in this field”.
The mayor goes further on his Bordeaux frugal building label, which now requires developers to meet more virtuous specifications in their constructions. A model hailed by obtaining the Housing Prize, received in Paris in December 2022, on the occasion of the congress of low-carbon cities. “It’s not spectacular, but it means that what is done in Bordeaux is recognized elsewhere. The outlook on Bordeaux is changing », he congratulates himself.
You have 67.66% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.