Page 136 - Biorefinery 2030 Future Prospects for the Bioeconomy (2015)

104 5 General Conclusion

The history of local economic development since 1900 in Toulouse is enlight-
4
ening in comparison with that of Reims. The two cities could be considered as
relatively unindustrialised at the beginning of the twentieth century, and both of
them have aeronautical traditions. Reims had a historical role as the cradle of the
industry twenty years before Toulouse entered the sector. However, it was geo-
graphically unsuitable to be used as an arsenal because of the wars with Germany,
and was unable to capitalise on this innovation.
Industrial and scientific life in Toulouse was marked by the creation in 1900 of a
municipal chair in agricultural and industrial chemistry, which was led by Paul
Sabatier (1912 Nobel Prize winner). Later, Paul Sabatier became dean of the local
faculty of Science, and with the support of the city council created three institutes:
chemistry (1906), electronics (1907) and agriculture (1909).
The city council played a vital role by directly subsidising the institutes rather
than giving an overall subsidy to the university, and by encouraging research to
promote the development of industry. We note in passing that the electronics
institute, the ancestor of the research laboratory of the 1970s, would support the
production of hydroelectricity in the Pyrenees and its regional use as the basis for a
possible local industry.
It was not until 1917 that Pierre-Georges Late ´coe `re, a neophyte in aviation,
obtained a contract to build 1000 aeroplanes for the Ministry of Armament. This
was followed by the launch of airmail services. Late ´coe `re continued to manufacture
aeroplanes, particularly flying boats, and so the aerospace industry continued to
develop until the development of Airbus today.
In 1955, the state began to take an interest in the development of the city of
Toulouse. It decided to initiate a degree of decentralisation, and among other
options considered the aeronautics sector for this. The name Late ´coe `re was used
very deliberately as a myth to justify this new development. In 1961, the state
decided to decentralise the National Centre for Space Study to Toulouse (CNES),
together with the Aeronautics School and the National Civil Aviation School.
In the 1970s, these developments began to have a real effect on local industry. In
the 1980s, research centres and services companies arrived, attracted by the
requirements of new digital systems (on-board management systems) and major
Airbus programmes.
Michel Grossetti and Jean-Marc Zuliani (2006), consider that for many years
there was no overall dynamic present in Toulouse. The avant-garde scientific
system (Sabatier and the institutes) did not succeed in launching the industry. It
was followed by initial steps in the aviation industry, but there was no link between
the two activities. It was not until the CNES and the aeronautics schools provided a
catalyst that the local system of competences gradually developed.

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This brief history is based on Grossetti, M, Zuliani, J-M, ‘La Construction d’un Syste `me
Industriel de Haute Technologie a ` Toulouse entre Logiques Locales et Logiques Nationales,’
pp. 267–281, in Entreprises de haute technologie, Etat et souverainete ´ depuis 1945, Conference of
8–9 February 2010, IGPDE, Comite ´ pour l’histoire e ´conomique et financie `re de la France, 2010.