This policy brief showcases a solution to regenerate industrial areas through strong local cooperation, without being subordinated to public policy. This has been implemented since 2015 in Le Havre – a medium-size industrial port city on the French west coast, coping with economic restructuring and demographic decline. Building on local knowledge and the stakeholders’ experience in implementing this project, this brief demonstrates how to develop a solid evidence base to lead industrial regeneration that works effectively for the whole port-city. The key lesson learnt is that to build a resilient urban economy, a global approach is required, combined with diverse collaborations and local support, added to a green approach of the economy. The brief offers several policy recommendations to enable this process.

3S RECIPE is part of the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe's ERA-NET Cofund Smart Urban Futures Call (ENSUF). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 857160.