Cities to be: “From aspirational metropolis to inspirational city”
Providing levers for attaining the goals of sustainable development, such is the ambition of Cities to Be. In concrete terms, this means pooling experiences, solutions and best practices, generating momentum among the territories, and persuading players of the building sector to commit to such goals. All in the aim of creating a denser, more resilient city that offers, quite simply, a pleasant way of life.
Co-hosted by Alliance HQE-GBC and the Novabuild cluster, the international sustainable building congress, Cities to Be, was held in Angers on 12 & 13 September. And with 1,700 participants, this 8th occasion of the event has been a success, to say the least! “Eight years ago, there were just 80 of us in a disused building”, recalls Philippe Pelletier, chairman of the Sustainable Building Plan. Besides the number of participants, success was also achieved in terms of the quality and richness of the discussions. To the extent that it would be difficult to summarise. “What strikes me most as a result of these meetings is that we have a community of highly-motivated people who want to take things further and faster, and put more energy into renovation, sustainable building and the sustainable city”, sums up Philippe Van de Maele, chairman of Alliance HQE-GBC.
“From building level to city level”
All the relevant topics were addressed: “We ventured out of the comfort zone, with at least two out of three plenary sessions being rescheduled to avoid staying among ourselves and get the message across that it no longer suffices to talk about sustainable development”, explains Laurent Rossez, chairman of Novabuild. So delegates did not focus on one single topic, be it eco-construction, carbon, energy, biodiversity or air quality. They went beyond this logic, considering all the criteria of sustainable development, including respect for the environment, quality of life and economic performance. And not just in terms of building and renovation, but also, more importantly, in terms of building in cities. Indeed, the former can no longer be considered without the latter. “This is one of the most important challenges we face in the reduction of the impacts of climate change”, says Philippe Van de Maele. Pooling, multi-purposing (…) All of this is well underway, since moving from building-level to city-level thinking is the very logic behind Cities to Be.”
Density and urban sprawl
Urban density is one of the key topics addressed at this event. According to Laurent Rossez, it is not a term to shy away from. “It is not incompatible with a pleasant, happy environment, as long as it is planned and designed in cooperation with the residents.” Urban sprawl is intrinsically linked to density and was another key topic of the discussions. Minister Julien Denormandie, at the Ministère de la Cohésion des territoires et des relations avec les collectivités territoriales, in charge of cities and housing, and Emmanuelle Wargon, Secretary of State at the Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire, both spoke on this subject. “This is the first time I’ve heard two ministers say it’s time to move on from permanent expansion to the self-renewing city”, says Laurent Rossez with satisfaction. But for him and many other participants, this idea needs to go further. “We probably need to abandon the logic of condensed macro-systems in the big metropolises and instead encourage more resilient systems, without giantism, at a smaller, city scale. In other words, move from the aspirational metropolis to the inspirational city.”
Inaugurated on 20 January in the presence of Minister of Housing and Sustainable Homes Emmanuelle Cosse, the eco-village Hameau des Noés in Val-de-Reuil can be considered a laboratory of sorts, where new ways of life will be concocted.
Since 7 November, the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) has been taking place in Marrakesh. The objective of this 2-week conference is to continue and to intensify the fight against climate change. Outside of the summit that brings together diplomats and heads of state from the entire world, the Bouygues Group, through its subsidiaries Bouygues Construction, Bouygues Immobilier, and Colas, is presenting its sustainable construction innovations.
We always need people who dream, imagine and conceive tomorrow’s city. If you can imagine it, at Bouygues Construction, we can build it, anywhere in the world. With one ambition: shaping a better in the regions where we operate, for our clients, our partners and the users of our buildings and structures. Find out about our […]
Pollutec, the international exhibition on environmental solutions, took place between 29 November and 2 December. This 27th edition brought together more than 100,000 manufacturers.
Crédit Mutuel Nord-Europe, Linkcity and Bouygues Bâtiment Nord-Est (subsidiaries of Bouygues Construction) laid the first stone of the future MEL head office, in the presence of Damien Castelain and Martine Aubry. The event marked the beginning of the largest office construction project currently in progress in the Lille metropolitan area.
And what if IKEA were set to sell us not flat-packed furniture but pre-packed Smart City kits? This is just what the Swedish giant seems to be working on, if its latest announcement is anything to go by. Named SolarVille, the project designed by Space10, its in-house innovation lab, can power a community with solar energy by way of a smart microgrid using blockchain technology.
In the previous article, we introduced you to three kinds of young people based on the trends revealed by the survey conducted by JAM for Bouygues Construction of 1,000 people between the ages of 18 and 25 about their relationship to housing: the Swiss army knife, the open door or the move-in ready. Here are three more...
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
0 CommentYour comment has been sent, thank you! It will appear after validation by the webmaster.