Its site was selected in the 1960s to accommodate the new town of Lille-Est. It was made to channel the development of the agglomeration. The commune of Villeneuve-d'Ascq was created in 1970 by combining three communes (Ascq, Annapes and Flers). Its name evokes at the same time the new city and the memory of Ascq, martyr city of April 1, 1944, date on which the Nazis massacred 86 men.