Historical Context: From Slave Trade to Creative Renaissance

Nantes carries heavy history. Its 18th-century wealth came from the triangular slave trade, a past the city now confronts honestly. The industrial era brought shipbuilding, biscuit factories, and canning plants. By the 1980s, deindustrialization left vast waterfront wastelands and 20% unemployment. The city faced a choice: chase smokestacks or imagine something entirely different.

Mayor Jean-Marc Ayrault, elected in 1989, chose imagination. "We couldn't compete with Asia on manufacturing or with Paris on finance," he recalled. "But we could become something new—a city where culture and technology enhance each other."

The transformation began with culture. The Royal de Luxe street theater company made Nantes its base. Les Machines de l'Île transformed abandoned shipyards into a steampunk wonderland. La Folle Journée brought classical music to the masses. But culture alone doesn't pay bills. The genius lay in connecting creativity to economic development.

"Artists and engineers started talking," explains Claire Thévenin, who witnessed the transformation. "Game designers collaborated with theater makers. Architects worked with software developers. We discovered creativity isn't separate from technology—it's what makes technology human."