The Paris Rive Gauche development stretches across three districts, each structured around a nerve centre: the Gare d'Austerlitz for Austerlitz, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France for Tolbiac and the Université Paris 7–Denis Diderot for Masséna.

To ensure that the entire operation benefits from a diversity in keeping with the capital's urban reality, the general design of each of these districts has been entrusted to various town-planning architects selected after international calls for bids.

As the urban planner for Paris Rive Gauche, SEMAPA is anticipating the expectations of future users in order to guarantee them access to all the usual conveniences of a local neighbourhood on the day they move in.