The Team of planners and designers have been appointed by the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (MEEDDM) to help deliver its EcoCité programme. The EcoCité programme is one of the major initiatives of the French ‘Sustainable City Plan’ launched by the Government in October 2008. The primary objective of the EcoCité programme is to create exemplar developments that genuinely meet Government aspirations for low carbon communities, with a central focus on improving existing communities as opposed to creating completely new ones. The project has run for 16 months during which time the strategic aims of sustainable development for France has been identified in conjunction with the central development criteria for EcoCités. This appointment reflects our strong track record in UK eco-towns and sustainable urban extensions in Asia.