Urban Planning, Housing and Society

Fort Saint-Jean is of great importance in Marseille because this site is the founding point of the city. A reconstruction of this building and the Saint Laurent church is undertaken using modelling techniques to better understand its history, because it was transformed and destroyed so many times in 26 centuries. Myriame Morel, historian and curator of the MuCEM, and Michel Florenzano, architect and former director of the MAP, share their research outcomes on different sources of…

Until World War II, feelings of insecurity tended to occur in the countryside and in the suburbs, the cities being closed and protected areas. In cities, violence often emerged in connection with the formation of youth groups (Apaches and Greaser - or Blousons noirs - subcultures). In fact, one may wonder what makes a city feel safer? Is there an urban form that could remedy this trend? How to find the right alchemy between population density and diversity? What makes even an affluent…

Since the 19th century, western cities have been equipped with all kinds of utilities and networks supplying them with water, gas, electricity, public transport, waste collection and disposal. To supply a city with water is to solve both the problem of distribution in sufficient quantity and also that water potability. Bernard Barraqué, socio-economist and urban planner at CIRED, after a brief historical review, presents the research that has been carried out constantly to improve water…

Downtown districts, formerly occupied by the working classes, are gradually being invested by a middle class with a strong land and cultural capital. This process is called gentrification. The Goutte d'or district is being gentrified and concentrates all the problems associated with it. Yankel Fijalkow, urban sociologist at the "Architecture, City, Urban Planning, Environment" laboratory, starts by defining this term. He elaborates on this process which is linked to the rehabilitation of…

Built from 1931 to 1934, the skyscrapers of Villeurbanne are the symbol of an architectural policy to oppose Lyon's hegemonic drive and one of the rare applications on this scale of socialist and hygienic utopias. Anne-Sophie Clémençon, urban morphology historian at the"Environment, City, Society" laboratory, studied this original architectural achievement. It was the socialist mayor and medical doctor, Lazare Goujon, who decided to establish the identity of his city of Villeurbanne…

In a context of economic crisis and fossil energy scarcity, finding natural and renewable energy resources has become essential for large urban areas. But it is still necessary to be able to combine energy capture and restitution systems. The short-term solution lies in a global overhaul of the production-consumption cycle and the coordination of all energy supply sources and user needs into new-generation utilities. What are the natural energies that could be exploited on a city scale? What…

Biodiversity must be restored and connectivities recreated, when one wants a city to cease to be a barrier for species reproduction. There is a drive to create green corridors cropping up in large cities. The smaller Parisian inner belt is precisely providing the opportunity to develop one of these corridors as a reservoir for biodiversity. Nathalie Blanc, as an environmental geographer at the Ladysslaboratory, investigates real-life developments of natural areas in the city in contrast to…

In France, 95% of the population, or 61 million inhabitants, live in city-influenced dwellings. Once developed around a historic centre, cities with the development of rail and road networks have extended their expansion to the suburbs. Cities are now expanding into new territories. Researchers explore, analyse the development of suburban areas and try to foresee future trends. Sandrine Berroir, geographer at the Géographie-Cités laboratory, highlights the reorganisation of metropolitan…

Whether it is for their thermal performance, their aesthetic qualities or in terms of life comfort, the new solutions sought in the building industry have aimed at reconsidering in an innovative way the use of materials known since long ago, and also new materials with interesting properties. Patrick Perré, a materials engineer at LGPM, process and materials engineering laboratory, explains the advantages of using wood for construction. Wood is a mechanically rigid and sturdy material…

This video shows how for Lyon, or Saint-Ouen, the use of digital technology is now essential in architecture and urban planning. For heritage preservation or for previewing purposes, modelling either existing environments or projects is a valuable decision-making aid. Renato Saleri, urban architect at the MAP, a joint laboratory of the CNRS and the Ministry of Culture and Communication, explores the techniques and tools used in the modelling work on the old Lyon city section for heritage…

In the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste André Godin, a socialist captain of industry, decided to bring to his workers the products of their work, as an equivalent of wealth. He became an architect and built the Familistère in Aisne, where 2000 people lived on for nearly a century. Michel Lallement, sociologist, introduces J.-B. A. Godin and explains his approach. It was not a utopian construct but rather a practical project, a model of life building upon a reformed housing improving the health…