Speaker
Description
The appearance of the notion of sustainable development in the 1980's and the publication of the Brundtland report constituted an important step in the procedures of urban planning of the late 20th century, especially for deindustrialized cities (Devillers, 2010). Its multifaceted nature, result of the diversity of intellectual filiations that preceded it (humanist, economist, ecologist), shows, according to some researchers like Passet, a reconciliation between limitless growth and environmental and social barriers (Passet, 1978). We can distinguish from the origins of this notion its structuring elements such as growth and its limits, conservation and preservation, as well as the place and role of natural and artificial capital in economic development procedures (UN, 1987). By considering the inequal development of urban areas, especially those that were left neglected for several years such as deindustrialized areas which are characterized by high levels of air, water and soil pollution, the paper tries to explore the ways through which deindustrialized areas could be developed in order to sustain both ecological balance and social equity. The purpose is to critically question the appearance of new planning policies for deindustrialized areas which are considered innovative, such as the creation of sustainable neighborhoods and participatory design, based on their capacity to foster regenerative relationships between society and the environment.
The research proposes an experimental approach in order to investigate the policies and tools which potentially could tackle socio-economic inequalities and reshape planning policies in deindustrialized areas. A critical point is to underline policies that seem to align with community needs, especially at neighborhood level and which could be generalized at the level of the city. This approach (bottom-up) helps to better identify and understand cities’ future in a resilient and inclusive way, as it is possible to study whether the goal of growth concerns all inhabitants, including marginalized groups, or is targeted at a limited number of people. The choice of the case studies was based on the necessity to critically think and reshape existing growth theories and concepts for the development of deindustrialized areas based on the reduction of their environmental footprint. On one hand we have the case study of the Docks-de-Seine in Saint-Ouen, a sustainable neighborhood project located at the north part of the Ile-de-France region not far from Paris. The neighborhood was constructed on a deindustrialized brownfield by focusing on bringing eco-social balance. On the other hand, we have the case study of Ile-de-Nantes, a sustainable neighborhood located in the city of Nantes at the west of France constructed in a deindustrialized zone. The main purpose of the project was the planning of a neighborhood which reconciles the natural environment while revitalizing the local economic and social tissue.
The research method used was the descriptive-analytic. The descriptive method was used in order to define post-growth policies and tools for the development of deindustrialized areas and relate them to previous studies in areas facing significant socio-economic inequalities. The analytic method was used in order to identify the particular socio-economic characteristics of the two case studies, the relationship between the built and the natural environment as well as technical innovations which seem to foster social and environmental balance. At the same time, we took interviews with local actors in order to study the implementation of inclusive and equitable territorial policies which aim to foster a circular economy model than a one that exploits ecosystems. The study of two real-world cases revealed the necessity to consider planning in deindustrialized areas in an interdisciplinary way that brings together members of academia, industry and local actors in order to reshape cities through bottom-up strategies while promoting eco-social integrity.
References
Devillers, Christian (2010) Qu'est-ce que l'urbanisme?, Urbanisme, No 372, Dossier: Théories/Pratiques, pp. 47-50.
Passet, René (1978) L'économique et le vivant. Paris : Economica
United Nations (1987) Brundtland Report. [Online] available at: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/139811?v=pdf
| Keywords | post-growth policies; social and environmental balance; deindustrialized areas; socio-economic inequalities |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
