GR19: Metropolitan Urban Trails & Territorial Storytelling

Developed in peripheral territories at the interface between Paris and its suburbs, the initiative explores how mapping, route design, local narratives and collective exploration can help reveal the resources, identities and everyday realities of neighbourhoods often overlooked despite their strong social, cultural and ecological dynamics.

Inspired by the imaginary of long-distance hiking trails, GR19 develops new formats of metropolitan exploration through walking, cycling, running and other soft mobility experiences connecting public space, local stories and everyday landscapes.

Combining cultural mediation, participatory approaches and digital tools, the project experiments with immersive ways of revealing the memory and transformations of territories through geolocated content, urban storytelling and situated experiences rooted in encounters with residents, greeters, local initiatives and neighbourhood know-how.

By creating accessible and collective exploration formats, GR19 contributes to new forms of metropolitan hospitality, territorial attractiveness, civic participation and neighbourhood identity while encouraging slower, more inclusive and place-based ways of experiencing metropolitan territories in transition.