Rouen has set a target to attract 10,000 new residents to the city by 2025, after a new study revealed Normandy’s main cities have lost tens of thousands of people to other parts of France in the past decade.

The mairie is redeveloping a plot of industrial and port wasteland on the banks of the Seine into new affordable riverside housing.

It also wants to build new accommodation for 600 extra students within the next five years.

The move comes as a report by Paris Dauphine university found Rouen, Caen and Le Havre were among the French agglomerations to have lost the most in terms of population since 1999, with migration to sunnier parts of France.

Le Havre has lost 17,621 residents in a decade, making it the 97th worst city out of 100 for population decline. Rouen lost 13,902 and Caen 11,381.

The biggest growth was in Ajaccio, Perpignan, Toulouse, Bayonne and Montpellier.

Rouen mairie spokesman Jérôme Savoye said the city centre itself had gained 2,000 residents since 1999 but the decline had come from the suburbs.

“Rouen’s agglomeration is a strong industrial zone and, with the industrial crisis, we have lost some residents,” he said.

Construction work on the riverside complex is due to begin in January 2011. It will include 70,000 m2 of office space, 35,000m2 of housing and 25,000m2 of shops and facilities.