At the beginning of the 20th century, the economy of the city centered on the industrial activity of the SNCF train repair shops.  The city developped, with working-class suburbs built on the Northern fringes of the old city.

After World War II, during which the city lost its train station, its two bridges, 28% of its dwellings along with two churches, the reconstruction brought new buildings to many sections.

At Fos-sur-Mer a steel-mill complex was built. New city-planning projects positionned Arles as a vast protected natural preserve organized around the Camargue, and a settlement pole for new emigrants after the colonial wars.  New housing developments, combining high-rise appartments and one-family homes, were created to the South (Griffeuille), to the North (Trébon and Monplaisir), and to the West (Barriol and Plan du Bourg).

The role of Arles as an administrative and service center was developped : the new Joseph Imbert Hospital was built by the architect Paul Nelson and has been listed as a national monument ; the Fourchon shopping mall was constructed on the outskirts of the city.

In the 1980’s the city of Arles started to develop its tourism potential with the creation of the Espace Van Gogh and its multimedia lending library in 1985, then in 1995 the opening of the Arles Archeological Museum (Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence Antiques), situated beside the remains of the Roman circus.

Today the city has two ambitious future projects on the drawing boards   :

• Reorganizing the city boulevards and the old historic section, and transforming the former SNCF industrial site into a technology and university campus.
• Rehabilitating the banks of the Rhone River by creating walking paths, new residences, a marina and other economic activities.