Les Ulis is anew town located in theÎle-de-France, in the south-west of the Parisian agglomeration and in the north-west of theEssonne department. It sits on the Courtabœuf plateau which dominates theYvette valley, also known as the Chevreuse valley. It is 23km to the south-west of central Paris, 20 km north-west ofÉvry and 14 km to the south-east ofVersailles.
The town is laid out in the form of a U, approximately threekilometres by two kilometres, and covers 680hectares. Over 65% of the area is built-up, 17% is semi-rural and 16% is either rural or comprises communal green space.[3] The FrenchInstitut Géographique National gives the co-ordinates of the town as 48°40'56" N and 02°10'03" E at the central point.
The source of the minor riverRouillon (river) is in the neighbouring town ofVillejust, close to the communal border. The lowest point of the town, at the point where it meetsBures-sur-Yvette, is at an altitude of 87m. Most of the town is situated at an average altitude of over 150m. Its highest point is at 170m. The land on which it is built consists ofclay,sand andmillstone.
The town is divided into distinct neighbourhoods by the main roads running through it. To the east is a large industrial zone. To the west is the residential area, a large part of which consists of 33HLM tower blocks, grouped into four neighbourhoods.
The town was conceived and built in the 1970s according to the precepts ofLe Corbusier by architects Robert Camelot, François Prieur andGeorges-Henri Pingusson. Its tower blocks are raised on slabs so that they are accessed above street level by means of pedestrian walkways. The town incorporates a large urban park, to the north.
17th century map of the area now occupied by Les Ulis.
The discovery in 1977 ofBronze Age tools in the neighbouring town ofVillejust suggests the possibility of pre-historic human occupation of the area that is today Les Ulis. During theRoman era,villas rustica occupied the Courtabœuf plateau. One, the "Villa Bona" gives its name to nearbyVillebon-sur-Yvette. A number were constructed by a property owner namedUslo, whose name might conceivably be connected to that of Les Ulis. It is also possible that the name is related to theOld Frenchusler, meaning to raze by fire. The area was at one time wooded, but was cleared during theMiddle Ages.
The name "Ullys" is first recorded as that of a feudalfee in a monastic inventory of 1382. In 1712, this land is recorded as belonging to Charles Boucher, an important Parisian civil servant. In 1767, it was transferred to CountPierre Gaspard Marie Grimod d'Orsay.
A significant farm of 160 hectares, the Grand Vivier, occupied much of the land. It raised cattle and sheep and cultivated wheat, potato, strawberry and beet. There was also a distillery on the land.
TheLigne de Sceaux railway opened in 1867, passing just to the west of the present-day town.
The development of the Courtabœuf industrial park was decided on in 1960, accompanied on 30 November that year by a decision to create a priority development zone for ten thousand homes to sit alongside it. 265 hectares of land comprising four farms, previously belonging to the communes ofBures-sur-Yvette andOrsay, were set aside for this housing project.
Les Ulis as a building site, 1977.
On 13 March 1964, an urban district of Bures-Orsay was established to oversee the development of the area. Road and utilities for the industrial zone were completed by July 1966, with the first business, AtoChem (part of what is nowTotal S.A.), moving in the following year.Hewlett-Packard created its French headquarters in the industrial zone in 1968. In the same year, the first residents moved into Les Ulis, although running water was not yet available in all homes.
The first municipal council for Les Ulis was elected in 1971. In 1973, a shopping centre,Ulis 2, was opened under the auspices ofCarrefour.
A census of 1975 records 20,283 people living in Les Ulis. Because this was significantly greater than the populations of both Bures-sur-Yvette and Orsay, which shared administrative responsibility for the town, a localplebiscite was held on 14 March 1976 to decide between three propositions: maintaining the status quo; creating a new commune comprising the three towns; creating a new commune for Les Ulis. Just over 50% of voters in Orsay and Bures-sur-Yvette favoured the last option, whereas a majority in Les Ulis favoured a commune comprising the three towns. Both municipal councils voted in favour of the creation of a new commune for Les Ulis. ThePrefect ofEssonne, Paul Cousserand, created Les Ulis as the 196th commune of the department on 17 February 1977.
In March 1977, Paul Lorident was elected mayor of Les Ulis, whilst the town remained in construction. He oversaw the building of a town hall, a market, ahybrid library and a cultural centre, named after the writerBoris Vian.
In 1982, the population of Les Ulis was 28,223. In 1985, it became acanton.
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The former spokesman of the ecological French party,Stéphane Pocrain, was raised in Les Ulis and was almost elected for the town'sconstituency (with the other towns ofGif-sur-Yvette,Orsay etc...) in 2002.
supermodelNoémie Lenoir was born in Les Ulis before her family moved to a very quiet life first inGif-sur-Yvette and then inVersailles where she was discovered and started her career in modeling.
writerPatrick Lapeyre (author of the award-winningL'homme-sœur) is a teacher in Les Ulis' high school (Lycée de l'Essouriau).
RapperSinik, was born centralParis, moved to Les Ulis at age four.
RapperGambino LaMG was born and raised in Les Ulis.
The biggest industrial area (tertiary) in Europe[7] is concentrated inParc d'Activité de Courtabœuf (area: 378 ha) with more than 1,000 companies employing 24,500 people. This area is spread over three communes: Les Ulis (mainly),Villebon-sur-Yvette andVillejust. Many companies such asHewlett-Packard andApple have their French head offices in this area.
^"Notre Histoire - Vigier Guitars".vigierpro.com. Retrieved4 January 2020. [Site no longer accessible to general public and page not archived in Wayback Machine, but relevant information still returned in Google search-results snippet.]
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