The Val d'Europe is part of Marne-la-Vallée, a planned city in the east of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department.
Officially, the name Val d'Europe stood for the amalgamation of five municipalities: Bailly-Romainvilliers, Chessy, Coupvray, Magny-le-Hongre and Serris, i.e. the municipalities that extend around or are on the resort grounds of Disneyland Paris where the Disneyland Paris facilities are located.
These 5 municipalities have formed the "Syndicat d'agglomeration Nouvelle (SAN) du Val d'Europe" since 1987.
Until the end of the 1980s it was a small, rather sleepy place. But with the emergence of the Disneyland Resort, these places have grown rapidly and there is still no end in sight in this regard.
Another group has been part of the SAN du Val d'Europe since 2011 - Villeneuve-le-Comte. Joining the SAN du Val d'Europe was part of the planning for Disney & Center Parcs' joint project, Villages Nature, and the Disney Nature Resorts, the areas of which, with the exception of today's Davy Crockett Ranch, are located in the area of Villeneuve-le-Comte.
In the contracts with the French government, the Disney Company has granted itself a clear co-determination right for the design of the Val d'Europe, on the site of which the two theme parks, the Disney Village and the Disney Hotels, are also located.
This collaboration, in which a private company has such a great influence on the planning, design and composition of a municipal area, is unique in France. The Euro Disney SCA has direct control over almost 20 km² of the total area of 30 km².
While in legal terms Val d'Europe contains all the areas describes above, in colloquial language Val d'Europe does usually not refer to the entire area, but to the newly residential, shopping and business district, which is located west of the grounds of the Disney Parks, the Disney Village and the Disney Hotels, as well as the newly created business park, Parc d'Enteprise Val d'Europe, which is located south of it. The buildings, the shopping center as well as office complexes and residential buildings are inspired in the style of Baron Haussmann, who in turn shaped the appearance of central Paris in the 19th century, and followed his architectural style of neo-traditionalism. The main planning for the Val d'Europe district lies with the New York office Cooper, Robertson & Partners, which bases the structure of the Val d'Europe district on the classic structures of French urban planning. The same office in the United States was responsible for planning the former Disney-town of Celebration, which is located south of Walt Disney World in Florida. The design of the Val d'Europe is considered exemplary from an urban planning point of view and was awarded the prestigious "Award for Excellence" by the Stockholm Urban Land Institute in 2008, for architectural style & design as well as for ecological sustainability and municipal management. The architect of the Place de Toscane, located at the northwest exit of the shopping mall, Pier Carlo Bontempi, had been awarded with Palladio Award, one of the most important architecture prizes, earlier already.
