A starchitect, a nationally-renowned mayor, and a developer passionate about "new public management" made Euralille a turning point in French urbanism.

The city of Lille was the site of one of the most talked-about urban projects of the late 20th century. Dubbed "EuraLille," this project affected a large sector surrounding the new high-speed rail station that would soon connect the capital of Flanders with major European cities. Thirty years later, Valéry Didelon returns to EuraLille, now France's third-largest business district. By following the trajectories of its three major players – Rem Koolhaas, Pierre Mauroy, and Jean-Paul Baïetto -- Didelon sheds light on the processes that gave rise to it, aspects of the neoliberal turn in urban planning: the decline of the welfare state, the rise in power of private contractors, and the status crisis of the architect-urbanist.