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France · 50.6292°, 3.0573°

Lille Map Poster: Vauban's Star-Shaped Citadel

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Map poster of Lille (France): streets, water and parks drawn from OpenStreetMap

Why this city works as a poster

Lille has a shape no other major French city shows as clearly: Vauban's citadel, a seventeenth-century star-shaped pentagon surrounded by moats and set in the Bois de Boulogne park. On a map it is a perfect geometric star at the edge of a dense urban fabric with no dominant direction. The contrast between this engineer's drawing and the rest of the city makes the poster.

Recommended framing

Between 3 and 4 km across, with the citadel top left and Vieux-Lille in the centre. Beyond 6 km the star becomes too small to read; below 2 km you lose the contrast with the city.

Which theme to pick

A theme that draws parks and water: the green of the Bois de Boulogne and the water of the moats are what cut out the star. On a theme where parks melt into the background, the citadel is just a hole in the network.

Where to centre the map

Citadelle
The five-pointed star north-west of the centre, in its setting of green.
Vieux-Lille
Narrow, tight streets around the Grand-Place, the densest part of the poster.
Euralille
East of the centre, the large footprints of the Lille-Flandres and Lille-Europe stations open crisp voids in the fabric.

How its streets are oriented

Street orientation in Lille: orientation order 0.05, organic pattern0° (N) – 180° (S): 5.8% of street length10° (N) – 190° (S): 3.0% of street length20° (NNE) – 200° (SSW): 2.9% of street length30° (NNE) – 210° (SSW): 7.6% of street length40° (NE) – 220° (SW): 4.6% of street length50° (NE) – 230° (SW): 7.1% of street length60° (ENE) – 240° (WSW): 7.3% of street length70° (ENE) – 250° (WSW): 6.1% of street length80° (E) – 260° (W): 4.3% of street length90° (E) – 270° (W): 7.0% of street length100° (E) – 280° (W): 4.2% of street length110° (ESE) – 290° (WNW): 3.3% of street length120° (ESE) – 300° (WNW): 3.5% of street length130° (SE) – 310° (NW): 5.0% of street length140° (SE) – 320° (NW): 7.4% of street length150° (SSE) – 330° (NNW): 9.4% of street length160° (SSE) – 340° (NNW): 7.2% of street length170° (S) – 350° (N): 4.4% of street length180° (S) – 0° (N): 5.8% of street length190° (S) – 10° (N): 3.0% of street length200° (SSW) – 20° (NNE): 2.9% of street length210° (SSW) – 30° (NNE): 7.6% of street length220° (SW) – 40° (NE): 4.6% of street length230° (SW) – 50° (NE): 7.1% of street length240° (WSW) – 60° (ENE): 7.3% of street length250° (WSW) – 70° (ENE): 6.1% of street length260° (W) – 80° (E): 4.3% of street length270° (W) – 90° (E): 7.0% of street length280° (W) – 100° (E): 4.2% of street length290° (WNW) – 110° (ESE): 3.3% of street length300° (WNW) – 120° (ESE): 3.5% of street length310° (NW) – 130° (SE): 5.0% of street length320° (NW) – 140° (SE): 7.4% of street length330° (NNW) – 150° (SSE): 9.4% of street length340° (NNW) – 160° (SSE): 7.2% of street length350° (N) – 170° (S): 4.4% of street lengthNESW

Within 3 km of the centre, we measured the orientation of 453 km of streets. Its orientation order is 0.05 out of 1: Lille ranks 43rd of the 64 cities in the study and 14th of the 25 French cities.

The streets run in almost every direction: no axis dominates, the pattern is organic.

See the full study: street orientation in 64 cities

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