Sophia Antipolis is a technology park in France. Much of the park falls within the commune of Valbonne, which lies northwest of Antibes and southwest of Nice, France. Gérald Hanning was the consultant advisor to the DATAR for this industrial/scientific complex created in 1970–1984; it houses primarily companies in the fields of computing, electronics, pharmacology and biotechnology. Several institutions of higher learning are also located here, along with the European headquarters of W3C and the ETSI. In the early years, one of the main challenges of Sophia Antipolis was to relate people and to create a sense of community. The "Human Factor" is what was to distinguish the Science and Technology Park in the world as a landmark of science, invention, innovation and research. It was to focus on building an international environment, creating an international community. This means taking into account and improving tenant interaction, networking and cross fertilization of ideas. The concept was that bringing together people from different intellectual horizons and "making" them meet, would bring added value and generate innovation. Many professional clubs were thus launched: The Sophia business angels club, the Sophia Nordic link, Art Sophia, Telecom Valley are just a few. Sophia Antipolis is named after Sophie Glikman-Toumarkine, the wife of French Senator Pierre Laffitte, founder of the park, and incidentally, Sophia, the Greek word for wisdom, and Antipolis, the ancient name of a nearby seaside town Antibes. Many of the roads within the technology park have Greek names. There is a giant sculptured Greek urn as a centre-piece on one of the roundabouts.
Garbejaire, the inner residential community
The residential community of Garbejaire is located within the technology park. There is a small shopping centre at the heart of Garbejaire with a post office, bakery, restaurants, hairdresser, chemist, Internet cafe, two supermarkets, two hotels within walking distance, and a church. There is a small park with a play area for children. There is also a large communal corporate dining facility that is shared by several companies on the periphery of Garbejaire.
Public transport
Several bus routes run through the technology park. There is a bus station with a manned ticket office. The company who runs the lines is called Envibus.fr. One of the bus routes to Antibes goes directly to Antibes railway station which provides access to the Riviera coastal railway. The station is served by eastbound trains to Nice and Monaco or westbound to Toulon and Marseille. The nearest international airport is in Nice.
Wildlife
There is a large national park around the technology park and several large villages on the outskirts of this park. Wild boar live within the park and occasionally walk through the technology park and Garbejaire. There is a large community of small bats that become active as soon as it starts to get dark. It is possible to attract the attention of the bats which respond to mimicry.
Companies and institutions
Partial list of companies and institutions located within Sophia Antipolis:
