Bouygues has joined a three-year alliance with French utility Suez to "develop innovative solutions for sustainable and smart cities".
The two signed a memorandum of understanding for the "design and development of solutions to optimise resource management and to favour more sustainable building and the circular economy".
The team said in a press statement that by 2030, the planet would have 9 billion inhabitants, 60% of whom would live in urban environments and about 40% in megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants each. As a result, the sustainable management of resources was "one of the key challenges of the 21st century".
Philippe Bonnave, chairman of Bouygues Construction, said: "Meeting the environmental challenge of more virtuous resource management will be the priority of the partnership between our two groups.
"We will achieve this through our long experience of successful collaborations, both in France and internationally, which have enabled us to co-construct innovative solutions to serve our customers."
The two firms are already working together on a number of projects, including the construction of the Fort d’Issy-Vanves-Clamart metro station, which forms part of the Grand Paris Express.
Suez will provide expertise in "water supply, water treatment, construction, recycling and recovery to develop urban projects" whereas Bouygues will be in charge of "environment and sustainable building".
The collaboration will cover waste recovery and recycled materials, water treatment and management, the development of on-site logistics solutions, local resource circuits, decentralised solutions for cities and eco-neighbourhoods and the development of public-private partnerships.
