Debates

Debates

What role for urban farming?

Laure Le Gall & translated by Oliver Waine - 17 September 2014

While the benefits of farming activities in large West African cities are starting to be recognised within the...

Debates

Preparing for a protest vote?

Rémi Lefebvre & translated by Oliver Waine - 18 June 2014

Between 2008 and 2014, the French Socialist Party was, more than ever before, a party of “local politicians”. Here,...

Debates

The new banks of the Seine: all for the best, or just another Woody Allen set?

Mathieu Flonneau & translated by Oliver Waine - 21 May 2014

June 2013 saw the completion of a project to transform the riverside expressway on the Left Bank of the Seine in...

Debates

The Localism Act in London: institutionalising urban divisions

Justinien Tribillon - 16 April 2014

By decentralising planning powers to local communities, the British Conservative government claims that they are...

Debates

The poetry of the urban landscape

Émeline Bailly & translated by Oliver Waine - 9 October 2013

The ideal of “nature in the city” is a key characteristic of many urban projects. Émeline Bailly shows that the...

Debates

The grandeur and decadence of the suburbs

Violaine Girard & Jean Rivière & translated by Oliver Waine - 18 September 2013

Periurban areas emerged in the 2000s as “new” spaces indicative of recent changes in French society – the weakening of...

Debates

Will local-government reform in London involve or abandon its citizens?

Martine Drozdz & translated by Oliver Waine - 3 July 2013

While the current financial crisis has compromised local authorities’ ability to deliver municipal services, the...

Debates

The Negotiated Urbanism of Grand Paris Express

Lara Belkind - 12 June 2013

In the fragmented context of Paris’s metropolitan and regional politics, the Grand Pari(s) design consultation and...

Debates

Identity checks and the law

Nathalie Ferré & translated by Oliver Waine - 24 April 2013

In France, the issue of identity checks is at the heart of the thorny debate on how to ensure better relations...

Debates

When agriculture meets the city…

André Torre & Lise Bourdeau-Lepage & translated by Oliver Waine - 10 April 2013

In this article, André Torre and Lise Bourdeau-Lepage consider the role of nature in the city through the prism of...

Debates

Jobs and geography: can the “functional hypercentrality” of Paris be an asset for the surrounding region?

Lise Bourdeau-Lepage & Élisabeth Tovar & translated by Oliver Waine - 20 February 2013

In a context of increasing competition among global cities, is it possible that Paris’s key asset is the spatial...

Debates

Do local politicians represent the people? A sociological portrait

Michel Koebel & translated by Oliver Waine - 28 November 2012

France’s 500,000 local councillors are regularly presented as the most popular elected officials and those closest...

Debates

Rent control: a miracle solution to the housing crisis?

Jean Bosvieux & translated by Oliver Waine - 21 November 2012

The sharp rise in housing costs in France since the end of the 1990s has generated much debate on the subject of...

Debates

Participation and housing policies: a century-old phenomenon

Marie-Hélène Bacqué & Claire Carriou & translated by Oliver Waine - 24 October 2012

The recent renewed interest in participatory housing experiments is, in fact, linked to a much longer history that...

Debates

Social housing in Europe: the end of an era?

Noémie Houard & translated by Oliver Waine - 26 September 2012

Although there is no single European model for social housing, there are nevertheless a number of common trends and...

Debates

The digital city: challenges for the future

Serge Wachter & translated by Oliver Waine - 16 May 2012

What is the impact of digital technology on the city and its architecture? Serge Wachter analyses the way in which...

Debates

Organic school meals: what remains of the pioneer spirit?

Leïla Kebir & translated by Oliver Waine - 9 May 2012

The concept of “organic canteens” has proved remarkably successful, buoyed by the Grenelle de l’Environnement (the...

Debates

From Vélib’ to Autolib’: private corporations’ involvement in urban mobility policy

Maxime Huré & translated by Oliver Waine - 25 April 2012

In December 2011 – four years after the launch of Vélib’ – Paris inaugurated Autolib’, the largest system of...

Debates

Water, sanitation, energy, waste: the dawn of the network-free city?

Sylvain Petitet & translated by Oliver Waine - 18 April 2012

Negative externalities, changes in society and technological innovation all call into question the industrial model...

Debates

Local food: a concrete Utopia

Christian Deverre & Jean-Baptiste Traversac & translated by Oliver Waine - 15 February 2012

Roland Vidal recently invited us to look beyond short food-supply chains and rethink local links between cities and...

Debates

The risk of nuclear accident: a territorial approach

Ambroise Pascal & translated by Oliver Waine - 1 February 2012

How many people live in the vicinity of French nuclear power stations? Recent events – notably in Japan, but also in...

Debates

Towers of Power

Jean-Marie Huriot & translated by Oliver Waine - 25 January 2012

Following on from Manuel Appert’s contribution, Jean-Marie Huriot discusses what is at stake in the skyscraper race....

Debates

Shale Gas: Local Democracy vs Central Government

Pascal Terrasse & translated by Oliver Waine - 18 January 2012

Without local consultation, the French government has granted permission for the exploration of shale gas plays...

Debates

Why isn’t there enough housing in France?

Jean-Claude Driant & translated by Oliver Waine - 11 January 2012

The idea that France is experiencing a serious housing deficit, requiring a massive home-building policy is the...

Debates

The difficulties of housing the Chinese “sandwich class”

Jie Chen & Bernard Vorms & translated by Oliver Waine - 21 December 2011

In China, young people from the middle classes are said to belong to a “sandwich class”: they do not have enough...

Debates

Skyline policy: the Shard and London’s high-rise debate

Manuel Appert & translated by Oliver Waine - 14 December 2011

At a time when major cities are racing to build higher than ever, and when the construction of skyscrapers in...

Debates

Kanal İstanbul: a “crazy project” serving political ambitions

Yoann Morvan & translated by Oliver Waine - 7 December 2011

The current proliferation of mega-projects in the Istanbul metropolitan area is both undeniable and impressive. The...

Debates

Is rising home ownership bad for employment?

Jean Bosvieux & Bernard Coloos & translated by Oliver Waine - 9 November 2011

Homeowners everywhere are less mobile than tenants. However, does home ownership have a negative effect on...

Debates

The desirable city or the sustainable city: what is the role of green spaces?

Jean-François Guet & translated by Birdwell Institute - 2 November 2011

While green spaces are in great demand among city-dwellers, their presence alone is not enough to make the city...

Debates

Participatory democracy in large-scale contexts: citizen participation in urban planning in Paris and Córdoba

Héloïse Nez & translated by Oliver Waine - 19 October 2011

Participatory urban planning often comes up against the question of scale, with local councillors accepting to...

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