It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after that of Paris. Villeurbanne is the second-largest commune in the metropolitan area of Lyon and the 20th most populated in France, and the most populous commune that is neither a prefecture nor a sub-prefecture. In 2013, Villeurbanne was elected the city with the best administration of France, which attracts more and more people.

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The current location of downtown Villeurbanne is known to have been inhabited as far back as 6000 BC. Its current name comes from a Gallo-Roman farming area, established at about the same time as Lyon (then Lugdunum) and known as the Villa Urbana ("town house"). It would then become Urbanum, then Villa Urbane and, ultimately, Villeurbanne.

Villeurbanne has belonged to the kingdom of France since 1349. It was then separated from La Guillotière (A former city lately incorporated into Lyon as the 3rd, 6th, 7th and 8th Arrondissement) by the river La Rize, a former branch of the Rhône River.

Until the 19th century, the city was merely a patchwork of distinct villages separated by fields and undeveloped land. These villages have mostly survived, and nowadays form the neighborhoods of Charpennes, Cusset, Croix-Luizet, Maisons-Neuves, etc.

With the industrial era, Villeurbanne's economy soared: the textile industry was the first to bloom, followed by mechanical and chemical ones. The factories lured in numerous immigrants, most notably from Italy.

Transforming from a rural community to an industrial town, Villeurbanne underwent a tremendous demographic boom in the late 1920s. From 3,000 inhabitants in 1928, its population rocketed to 82,000 in 1931. Mayor Lazare Goujon (elected 1924) engaged the city in a vast public works initiative. Arguably the most visible heritage of this program is the Gratte-Ciel [fr], a housing complex made up of two Art Deco towers and annex smaller buildings, lining up along the Avenue Henri Barbusse. These structures built between 1924 and 1934 are the work of architect Môrice Leroux, with a contribution of Tony Garnier. They are one of the most notable Art Deco structures in France and the 19-story twin towers have become an emblem of the city.

Villeurbanne city hall was built by Robert Giroud, a disciple of Tony Garnier (architect) and friend of Môrice Leroux.

• 
  Gratte-Ciel complex, Villeurbanne
• 
  Interior of one of the gratte-ciel.
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  Villeurbanne city hall
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  Trompe l'œil, Charpennes

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Public junior high schools

• Collège Louis Jouvet
• Collège Jean Jaurès

Public senior high schools

• Lycée Faÿs
• Lycée Alfred de Musset
• Lycée Marie Curie Villeurbanne
• Lycée Pierre Brossolette]]
• Lycée Magenta

Private schools:

• Institution Scolaire Immaculée Conception is a private school from elementary to high school/sixth-form with three campuses, two elementary and one secondary.
• École Beth Menahem (a Jewish school from preschool to senior high/sixth-form)

Many colleges and universities of the Lyon metropolitan area are located in Villeurbanne. Many of these are located on the La Doua campus, home to the Claude Bernard University (Lyon I), a public university, CPE Lyon and the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, one of the premier engineering institute (Grandes écoles) in France, very well known for high quality education and for research in France.

The Association Pour le Developpement de la Langue et de la Culture Japonaises (ADLCJ; リヨン補習授業校 Riyon Hoshū Jugyō Kō), a part-time Japanese supplementary school, is held in the Maison Berty Albrecht in Villeurbanne. It was formed in 1987.

Villeurbanne is well served by the Lyon area public transit system, the TCL (Transports en Commun Lyonnais). The east branch of subway line A runs through the city heart, and the new tramway lines T1 and T4 connects the La Doua campus to the Lyon business and commercial district of La Part-Dieu and the Presqu'île downtown.

Villeurbanne is twinned with:

• Abanilla, Spain
• Abovyan, Armenia
• Bat Yam, Israel
• Mogilev, Belarus

In addition, Villeurbanne has a friendship declaration with:

• Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 1,617 —     1800 1,654 +0.32% 1806 1,834 +1.74% 1821 2,136 +1.02% 1831 2,826 +2.84% 1836 2,998 +1.19% 1841 3,677 +4.17% 1846 4,252 +2.95% 1851 5,395 +4.88% 1856 5,339 −0.21% 1861 5,850 +1.84% 1866 6,663 +2.64% 1872 7,474 +1.93% 1876 9,033 +4.85% 1881 11,176 +4.35% 1886 14,715 +5.66% 1891 17,940 +4.04% 1896 21,714 +3.89% 1901 29,220 +6.12%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1906 33,890 +3.01% 1911 42,526 +4.64% 1921 56,110 +2.81% 1926 63,775 +2.59% 1931 82,038 +5.17% 1936 81,322 −0.18% 1946 82,399 +0.13% 1954 81,769 −0.10% 1962 105,416 +3.23% 1968 119,879 +2.17% 1975 116,535 −0.40% 1982 115,960 −0.07% 1990 116,872 +0.10% 1999 124,215 +0.68% 2007 138,151 +1.34% 2012 146,282 +1.15% 2017 147,712 +0.19% 2018 150,659 +2.00%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
From 1962, the number here is the population without double counting Source: EHESS and INSEE

In terms of population, Villeurbanne is the second largest city in the Metropolis of Lyon, the fourth largest in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and the 21st largest in France.

• Henry Bertrand, silk weaver
• Henri Cochet (1901–1987), tennis player
• Charles Hernu (1923–1990), politician, mayor of Villeurbanne (1977–1990)
• Sébastien Philippe (born 1975), racing driver and team principal of ART Grand Prix
• Mourad Benhamida (born 1986), footballer
• Laure Manaudou (born 1986), swimmer, world record holder
• Jean-Karl Vernay (born 1987), race car driver
• Florent Manaudou (born 1990), swimmer
• Gnonsiane Niombla (born 1990), handball player
• Xavier Chavalerin (born 1991), footballer
• Amos Youga (born 1992), footballer
• Willem Geubbels (born 2001), footballer

• Communes of the Metropolis of Lyon

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villeurbanne.

• Official website (in French)
• Villeurbanne Message Board (in French)