Mobile Workshops

As part of the 36th AESOP Congress, we have organized 19 insightful mobile workshops that will allow participants to explore the urban dynamics, planning challenges, and innovative solutions being implemented in Paris and its surroundings. These visits offer a unique opportunity to delve into the heart of the city’s transformative projects and engage with experts driving these changes.

Meeting point: Thursday, July 11th, 4:00 PM, in front of the main entrance of Saint-Thomas building (1 place Saint-Thomas d'Aquin, 75007 Paris)

PARIS 12 BERCY

Welcoming excluded people in a city: visit of an accommodation centre in Paris

Transitional urban planning / Accommodation / Housing/Integration/Inclusion

Founded in 1871, the Aurore Association was designed to give back a normal life and accompanies people towards autonomy. It is specialized in "welcoming and supporting people in precarious or excluded situations towards autonomy through accommodation, care and integration." They deal with a large range of issues, such as housing, emergency, addiction, psychiatry, professional integration and asylum. Indeed, Aurore has about 200 support facilities and reception offices through the Parisian region. Through this visit, you will learn more about the subject of exclusion in the city.

BANKS OF THE SEINE AND RIVOLI

Bicycle plans: project of a bike friendly region

Mobility

Creating a bike friendly city is a growing priority for local authorities, such as the City of Paris, the Greater Paris, and the region. This strategy aims to reduce air pollution and promote energy transitions. Adopted in 2021, the Metropolitan Bicycle Plan of the Greater Paris is structured into 9 lines through 70 municipalities, totaling around 215 km of cycling facilities, 58% of which have already been completed and committed. Moreover, the goal of the Region bicycle network is to make 11 routes by 2030, totalling 750 km. More than 170 local authorities have been involved, while the partnership with the regional bicycle collective has enabled to take into account the needs of users. Besides, cycling has been integrated in the regional mobility charter. Through this visit, you will visit some of these developments created by these policies and learn more about their effects and challenges.

PARIS 18

Greening the ring-road

Nature

The Ateliers du Périphérique, workshops with all the stakeholders of the Paris ring-road to its transformation into a new green belt, including a 500-meter strip on both sides of the infrastructure. Through revegetation, the goal is to reduce pollution and improve the health of residents, reconnect and improve the city, and enable better living conditions. By 2024, the project will create a dedicated carpooling/bus/taxi, also used for the Olympic Games. It will also intensify revegetation and the development of temporary use and various events. By 2030, it should turn the ring road into an urban boulevard, enhanced by a green planted landscape; and accommodate new neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

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Urban renewal: la Courneuve

Urban renewal

The 4,000 Nord district in La Courneuve is the subject of a new urban renewal program (NPRU). The objective of this program is to diversity the housing supply that is currently made up of exclusively social housing. The district adjoints the Georges Valbon park, from which it is being separated by the A1 motorway.

PARIS 14

Cité internationale de Paris

ESR

The Cité Internationale is the student housing campus of Paris founded in 1925. It welcomes 12,000 students and researchers of 150 nationalities and, more specifically, 6,800 housing shared between 43 houses. Although dedicated to housing, Cité Internationale aims to foster open-mindness, solidarity and the exchanging of ideas. The campus has an exceptional architectural, historical landscape heritage. And for the first time since 1969, the Cité is expanding! In 2025, it will add 10 new houses, which is an additional 1,800 places. Existing buildings and infrastructures will also be modernized!

COURBEVOIE 92

La Défense: Central Business District in transition

Business District

La Défense is the Central Business District of Paris, and is the fourth most attractive business district in the world. It was founded in the early 60s and is nowadays carried by the public establishment Paris La Défense, working for its development, management, animation, and promotion. Located in the suburbs just outside of Paris, the district accommodates 180,000 employees, 500 firms in approximately 130 different buildings. It is currently transforming to become a more liveable quarter and to adapt to contemporary challenges, such as global warming, new global balances, the rise of teleworking and the transformation of lifestyles. Today, Paris La Défense aims to become the first post-carbon business district and to halve greenhouse emissions by 2030.

PARIS 17

Batignolles: sustainable mixed-use district in the Northwest of Paris

Development / Sustainable city

Reaching to its end, Clichy-Batignolles is one of the most ambitious and largest ongoing Parisian urban projects, welcoming 7,500 residents and 12, 700 jobs. On 54 hectares, it addresses a mixed-use program with housing (mainly social), businesses, equipment, and offices on a site historically dedicated to its rail infrastructures. Located between the suburbs of Clichy-La-Garenne and Haussmanian areas of the Northwest of Paris, its goal is to create urban communities between neighborhoods long separated by this landlocked railway area. It has high ambitions regarding environmental challenges and is part of the French approach of “Écoquartiers”, aiming for sustainable and development in urban projects.

PARIS 10

The Saint-Vincent-de-Paul: from a former hospital to the city

Layout

Built on the site of a former hospital, the area will be mainly residential. It covers 3,4 ha and will accommodate 600 housings, spaces dedicated to the social economy, as well as public and cultural facilities. The project was thought like an urban experimentation in the fields of co-construction with the inhabitants, namely through temporary occupation. Each field of its urban planning involves future users, such as inhabitants or professionals. Between 2015 and 2020, the project Grands Voisins was realized in the district to foster diversity of uses, but also to be a forerunner of the future Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. Besides, the district has high ambitions regarding environmental challenges and is part of the French approach of “Écoquartiers”, aiming for sustainable development in urban projects.

PARIS 10

Greening an ethnic neighborhood: la Goutte d'or I

Nature & Sustainable city

Making Paris a resilient city in the face of climate and biodiversity preservation challenges requires numerous developments. The greening of streets responds to these challenges by making it possible to provide islands of urban freshness while improving our living environment. The visit will present the greening action undertaken in the Goutte d'Or Neighbourhood.

PARIS 14

Urban forest and heat island: case study of place de Catalogne

Nature & Sustainable city

By 2030, the Climate Plan of Paris aims to create 300 cool islands, among other urban forests. Through this visit, you will learn more about the Plan, the revegetation policies and be able to visit an urban forest. The first urban forest will take shape at place de Catalogne, which covers 12,400m2, including 4,000 m2 of forest. The site was dedicated to automobile traffic and is a major heat island in the summer. A complete living ecosystem will be created, including soil, vegetation and wildlife, which was inspired by the biodiversity of the region’s forests. The local population was consulted to develop the project, to make it a pleasant place, taken over by its residents and adapted to their activities and needs.

PANTIN 93

Olympic legacy and sport-oriented urban planning in Pantin

Layout / Olympics

Pantin is a very popular place which encompasses history, industry, urban planning and sports. The waterway is Canal de l'Ourcq, an artificial structure ordered by Napoleon I in 1802 and completed in 1822. Very close to Paris, Pantin and the canal have been heavily industrialized in the past. The old Magasin Généraux warehouse is still here and hosts offices after a huge restoration. Partly abandoned in 2001, this area was renewed with housing and offices step by step from 2014 to 2022. Additional works are in progress or scheduled. The National urban renewal agency headquarters are located in Port de Pantin. Moreover, this place represents the new links between Paris and its banlieue (suburbs). Open to commercial navigation, the canal is also well known for active transportation and recreational “highway” with a cycle path, small sport facilities and events, like a swimming contest. The local olympic committee of Seine-Saint-Denis office are just beside Porte de Pantin.

PARIS 12

La Caserne de Reuilly: experimenting housing in a former military barracks

Housing

This visit aims at presenting the refurbishment of the Caserne de Reuilly, à former infantry quarter located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Dating from the 19th century, during World War II the Caserne de Reuilly served as a mobilization center for the French Milice, but the barracks were finally abandoned and since 2013 the building is managed by Paris Habitat. The design preserves and refurbishes the existing buildings while adding three adjacent independent volumes for residential use. The project makes a total of 120 housing units positioned around a central public garden. When the project was developed it was very innovative.

PARIS 18

Revisiting the long-term change of an ethnic neighborhood : la Goutte d'Or II

Traditionally popular, the Goutte d’Or district is known for its immigration and its animation, as seen through its markets and exotic shops for example. Nonetheless, the district is also known for experiencing social and economic difficulties and as a place of delinquency. Because of the North station railroad tracks, it is less populated towards the North. By the South, the “Goutte D'Or-Boris Vian” area is being redeveloped by the public company, PariSienne. It is part of the New National Urban Renewal Program (NPNRU). As a first step, the goal was to eliminate substandard housing. Currently, the project aims to develop public spaces, infrastructures, and improve the commercial offer.

BOBIGNY

A walk along the canal de l'Ourcq: redevelopment of industrial warehouses

Layout

The Plaine de l'Ourcq area is undergoing profound changes and constitutes as one of the strongest project dynamics in the Paris metropolis. The Plaine de l'Ourcq project is a 500 hectares developed on nearly 8 km of canal, in the towns of Pantin, Romainville, Bobigny, Noisy-le-Sec et Bondy. It is a model of more sustainable and more humane development for provide a quality living environment. This involves not only the production of diversified housing promoting a mix of populations but also the maintenance of a productive city providing jobs and the development of a metropolitan reference axis of culture and leisure.

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The redevelopment of the riverfront: Saint-Ouen

Layout/Olympics

The Saint-Ouen Docks are an old industrial site of over 100 hectares which form an exceptional site next to the Seine. The renovation operation planned by the town of Saint-Ouen represents an important element of the development of this territory at the heart of the conglomeration. It is one of the « biggest écoquartier in Europe » and one of the biggest food halls in Europe. It will welcome the « village des athlètes » during the Olympics. Saint Ouen is at the center of attention in Urban planning for more than 5 years. The new quarters « les Docks de Saint Ouen » is a symbol of the generation of urban projects du « Grand Paris » : new metro station, requalification of economicus grounds, densification and gentrification, high objectives on shops and ground floor. The visit will focus on the redevelopment of new commercial facilities such as “la Halle Gourmande”.

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Developing a new mixed-city district in Saint-Ouen

SEQUANO Layout

The city of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine granted, by the deliberation of the municipal council to develop the Zac de l'Ecoquartier des Docks on September 24, 2007. The creation had been decided on June 25, 2007. Eminently strategic, this project covers an area of approximately 100 hectares, representing a quarter of the municipal territory. This operation focuses on the transformation of a predominantly industrial sector to a mixed city district. The redevelopment of the Docks will change the face of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine and the committed future. The operation, ultimately, will allow an increase of at least 20% of the population and 30% of the number of jobs in the community. The objective is to develop, in the heart of the urban area, a new district of the city of high urban and environmental quality, exemplary in its functional and social diversity with its density, while enhancing existing districts. In December 0f 2020, the northern extension of metro line 14 was put into service, with 2 stations in direct proximity to Zac (Saint-Ouen and Mairie-de-Saint Ouen stations). This extension of line 14 supports the development of the operation by significantly strengthening the public transport offer, especially as it is supplemented by a new bus network plan for all the concerned areas.

PARIS 4

Exhibition "the Parisian Metropolis" (Pavillon de l'Arsenal)

Generalist / urban culture

The Pavillon de l'Arsenal is the centre of information, documentation and exhibition of urban planning and architecture of Paris and the Parisian Metropolis. Created in 1988, it is a unique place, where information concerning urban development and architecture réalisations in Paris and its Metropolis is available to everyone.

PARIS 17

Nature-based solutions in Paris: greening the school playgrounds

Education

The playgrounds of Parisian schools are gradually being transformed into a type of “oasis”. The objective is to create refreshed spaces, more pleasant to live in on a daily basis and better shared by everyone. Designed as true islands of coolness in the heart of neighborhoods, certain courtyards also welcome a wider public outside of educational times, and can become “refuges” for vulnerable people during heat waves.

BOULOGNE - BILLANCOURT

The Trapeze Eco-district: Risks management and landscape of a riverfront

Generalist / urban culture

Located opposite Île Seguin, the Trapèze runs along the Seine and extends over approximately 74 hectares. It is one of the largest labeled eco-neighborhoods in France. The Trapèze eco-district is restructuring industrial wasteland left by the former Renault factories and presents innovative architecture. The redevelopment project aims to create a residential and commercial district. One issue that governed the development of the site was to limit the risks of flooding linked to heavy rains and flooding of the Seine.

MONTREUIL 93

Refurbishment of historical social housing buildings

Urban renewal

Encircling Paris, most HBM buildings are located on the site of the city's former fortifications, and also represent the subsequent effort to reduce the shanty towns that appeared at the turn of the 20th century. The first of these buildings were constructed in the 1920s, and they were at the time examples of modern urban planning, architecture and comfort. Now undergoing significant renovations to improve energy efficiency and adapt to a modern living standards, HBM buildings testify to the hygienist and social views prevalent at the time of their construction. The visit will focus on the project of rehabilitation of HBM housing buildings developed in Montreuil by Paris Habitat (social housing Landlord).