CERGY-PONTOISE

'Cergy-Pontoise' is an agglomeration in France, in the Val d'Oise ''département'', northwest of Paris on the Oise River. It owes its name to two of the communes that it covers, Cergy and Pontoise.
:Population (2003): 183,430
:Area is 77.74 km²
:Population density: 2,360 hab./km²

Contents

Administration

Population

History

Public Transport

Twinnings

External links

Administration

As of 2005, Cergy-Pontoise is a ''communauté d'agglomération'' consisting of twelve communes:

★ Boisemont

★ Cergy

★ Courdimanche

★ Eragny-sur-Oise

★ Jouy-le-Moutier

★ Menucourt

★ Neuville-sur-Oise

★ Osny

★ Pontoise

★ Puiseux-Pontoise

★ Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône

★ Vauréal

Population

Since the establishment of the new agglomeration, the population has quadrupled over forty years.

History

In the 1960s, faced by the fast development of Paris and its suburbs, it was decided to control and balance it by creating several new cities around Paris.
To the north, the choice was made on the surroundings of Pontoise. The old city was to be integrated in a much larger unit, whose center would be Cergy, at the time not more than a village. From 1965, the establishment of the new city was to be done in several stages:

★ April 16, 1969: creation of the publicly owned "Établissement public d'aménagement" (EPA)

★ 1971: creation of the Syndicat communautaire d'aménagement (SCA).

★ August 11, 1972: official creation of the new city of Cergy-Pontoise, gathering fifteen communes (the eleven current ones, and Boisemont, Boissy-l' Aillerie, Méry-sur-Oise and Pierrelaye).

★ 1983: the law Rocard amended the new cities.

★ 1984: Syndicat d'agglomération nouvelle (SAN) replaces the SCA, four communes left the structure (the four mentioned above)

★ December 31, 2002: end of the mission and dissolution of the EPA, following the completion of the new city.

★ January 1 , 2004: transformation of the SAN into a communauté d'agglomération.

★ 2004: Boisemont becomes the 12th commune of Cergy-Pontoise.

Public Transport

Bus services are prodived by the Stivo (formerly StAN).
Rail services are provided by both the SNCF and the RATP. Two RER lines begin within the new town.

Twinnings

Cergy-Pontoise is a sister city to the planned cities of

★ Columbia, Maryland, United States

★ Tres Cantos, Spain

★ Erkrath, Germany

★ West Lancashire, England (Which includes the planned town of Skelmersdale.)

External links

★ Site of the communauté d'agglomération