Metropolitics

A Masterpiece in Peril: The Garden Suburb of La Butte-Rouge

Renaud Epstein & translated by Oliver Waine — 2026-02-24T06:00:00Z

La Butte-Rouge, built in the mid-20th century in Paris's southern suburbs, is the archetypal example of a French cité-jardin. In a recent work retracing its history, Élise Guillerm highlights the urban and architectural qualities of this eco-neighborhood before its time, whose very existence is now threatened by an urban renewal project.
Analysis of urban policies, and particularly urban renewal policies, dispels the idea that historical knowledge can prevent the repetition of past mistakes.

- Reviews / urban planning, cité-jardin, HLM, urban heritage, heritage, Châtenay-Malabry, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, social housing, sustainable development, garden city, garden suburb, France, Paris region, Paris, history, urban history, environment, urban renewal, landscape

Fifteen-Minute Prisons? A Reflection on the Far-Right Backlash Against Sustainable Development in Britain

Garrett L. Grainger — 2023-10-04T09:46:01Z

In an era of increasing political polarization, right-wing activists are targeting sustainable planning initiatives. Analyzing online media coverage and posts on X (formerly Twitter), Garrett L. Grainger explores why activists are contesting “15‑minute cities” in Oxfordshire and how resistance to them reaches across the globe and affects local planning efforts.
Nearly 2,000 far-right activists protested Oxfordshire County Council's “15‑minute city” plan in February 2023. That demonstration

- From the Field / United Kingdom, 15-minute city, far right, urban planning, sustainable urban planning, sustainable development

Aéroports de Paris: A Strategic Lever for the French State?

Nathalie Roseau & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-01-26T06:00:00Z

Following growing controversy surrounding the French government's plans to privatize the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) group, Nathalie Roseau looks back at the history of this organization and questions the wisdom of such a reform.
On April 11, 2019, France's lower house of parliament, the Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly) approved a law known as PACTE (Plan d'Action pour la Croissance et la Transformation des Entreprises – Action Plan for Growth and Transformation of Enterprises), paving

- Debates / climate change, Greater Paris, airport, sustainable development, Île-de-France, ADP, France, globalization, Paris region, Paris, transport, transport policy, environment, environmental protection, economic development, territorial development, privatization

Global Climate Crisis and the City: An Interview with Ashley Dawson

Ashley Dawson & Maura McGee — 2019-04-03T09:58:34Z

An interview with Ashley Dawson, professor of English at the College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center, CUNY, about his most recent book Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change. He talks with Maura McGee about the global convergence of urbanization and climate change, strategies to confront climate chaos, and how communities and social movements can act.
Cities are the defining social and ecological form of the 21st century. They are home to the

- Interviews / global warming, environment, anthropocène, climate change, sustainable development, Global South, Global North, sea-level rise, crisis, environmental justice, just transition

Getting Night Lighting Right

Samuel Challéat & Dany Lapostolle & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-11-02T06:00:00Z

Innovation in contemporary urban lighting has increasingly been driven by issues of sustainability. While environmental concerns focus attention on energy savings and reducing light pollution, taking account of how people use public spaces is important too, as artificial light can then be adjusted to actual needs. Following the pioneering work of Roger Narboni and Luc Gwiazdzinski, Samuel Challéat and Dany Lapostolle make the case for dedicated nocturnal city planning.
While the contributions

- Essays / France, urban planning, sustainable development, Toulouse, use of space, Grenoble, night, urban temporalities, urban project, lighting

The Urban Heart of a Just Transition: How Cities Plan for Social Justice in Climate Action

Alexa Waud — 2018-04-03T05:00:00Z

Cities are often framed as sustainability saviors. Alexa Waud analyzes 20 climate action plans of cities that participate in the international Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, and argues that in order to minimize the impacts of decarbonization on vulnerable populations, cities must understand the historical context of racial and social justice struggles, the immediacy and impact of climate action plans, and the strong potential for action on climate change.
---- Series: Climate Change and

- Essays / sustainable development, social justice, energy, climate change, sustainable city, climate action plans, environmental justice, climate justice, urban sustainability, energy transition, ecological transition, decarbonization, just transition

Transition towns, or the desire for an urban alternative

Adrien Krauz & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-05-15T04:50:00Z

The entry of the term “transition” into the vocabulary of public action shows that questions regarding how to build more sustainable models for society are still relevant. The response offered by “transition towns” is a model for action involving a variety of local and citizen-led initiatives that are based on a method for sustainable environmental development called permaculture.
---- Series: The Renewed Relevance of Urban-Planning Models? Faced with the threat of an environmental crisis,

- Essays / utopia, sustainable development, LETS, local currencies, urban agriculture, agriculture, resilience, model, sustainable urban planning, permaculture, transition towns

Exporting French-style “sustainable cities” to Morocco

Pierre-Arnaud Barthel & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-05-01T04:50:00Z

In Morocco, environmental urban projects are the order of the day. For these projects, French expertise is being held up as a Western model for “sustainable cities” that is centred on values, principles and methodologies – a model that is both a resource and an example to learn from for the Moroccan planners, despite some uncertainties regarding its implementation…
---- Series: The Renewed Relevance of Urban-Planning Models? In emerging countries, a new generation of major projects –

- From the Field / France, urban planning, sustainable development, environment, eco-neighborhood, expertise, sustainable city, sustainable urban planning, design office, Morocco

The Violence of Sustainable Urbanity

Erik Swyngedouw — 2014-11-10T05:50:00Z

If Nature is an ideological construction that separates us from the environment, the contemporary search for technical solutions is only business as usual. How then can we face the environmental disasters that human consumption and pollution bring upon us? Erik Swyngedouw advocates for a politization of the environment around the idea of equality.
Anthropocenic Urbanity
In May 2013, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million, roughly equivalent to the

- Debates / sustainable development, environment, nature, global warming, anthropocène

For cities of a different nature

Jérémy Grangé & Sylvain Petitet & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-03-26T05:50:00Z

City-dwellers want to see more of their metropolitan areas turned over to nature and urban public spaces; however, our cities today are still structured by a network of roads that were primarily built to manage motor traffic flows. Sylvain Petitet and Jérémy Grangé show how implementing sustainable urban infrastructure could provide city-dwellers with easy and convenient access to the places that generate most of their journeys, revealing a new form of network-based public space.
The 20th

- Essays / public space, public transportation, sustainable development, nature, well-being, bicycles, infrastructures, pedestrian, infrastructure, cycling