The 45 hectares of the site have an historical antecedent in the 19th‑century urbanisation of the left bank of the Rhône. Between the river and the dyke a potential biotope came to life, though it was never occupied for any significant period of time. It was placed under environmental protection in the 1990s, and a competition for the creation of a park was launched, which was won by Ilex. On the scale of the metropolis, this is the final link in a continuity of landscape that runs along the left bank of the Rhône.