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In France, entreprises publiques locales (EPLs, companies owned by local government) were key players in urban development throughout the second half of the 20th century. This paper explains their main changes in more recent times, since the early 2000s. Based on interviews and documentary research, we highlight the main trends in the reorganisation of these companies, in particular the creation of sociétés publiques locales (SPLs) alongside the former sociétés d’economie mixte (SEMs). We show that the changes reflect a sharp reduction in barriers between the upstream (urban planning) and downstream (construction and management) segments of the urban development sector. Finally, we show that the transformations of these EPLs reflect the increasing power of inter-municipal government bodies over the period, while at the same time, paradoxically, they remain instruments in the hands of mayors to control urban development in their municipalities.