In recent years, and particularly since the post-Rio years (EMELIANOFF, 2004), the concept of sustainable development has emerged as a new imperative for urban and metropolitan public action. Moreover, the city as we know it cannot continue to develop and grow as it has until now. Indeed, cities emit more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gases, while they are home to more than 50% of the world’s population. Road traffic, industrial activities, and the buildings themselves, through their design and the materials used, create and store heat, generating and feeding the now well-known phenomenon of “heat islands”. Faced with this observation, the desire to see a change in the way cities are designed and lived in has continued to grow. For it is here, at the very heart of the city, that the major ecological, economic and social issues of tomorrow will be played out. (SAGELOLI, 2018).
Urbanism, by definition, aims to conceive material forms of habitat of the life of relation associating the social and the environment. Sustainable development undoubtedly brings a new perspective, but which could give fully its effects only if it were declined on the scale of the urban geography and the urban planning. This perspective has strengthened the attention paid to the environment, while modifying its conception somewhat (GUERMOND, 2006). It is no longer a question of “mastering” the environment, but of better adapting to it: “the crisis of modernity encourages us to consider the environment no longer as a constraint to be overcome, but rather as an organizing principle in development, and, consequently, in urban planning,” (BERDOULAY, 2002). Sustainable development also adds a third pillar, the economy, to the social and environmental pillars. The latter makes it possible not to limit sustainable urbanism to housing for the most privileged.
To succeed in this challenge, many actors need to be mobilized at the national level (ministries, federations, agencies and associations) as well as within communities (project owners, elected officials, public and private developers, engineering firms, etc.) (ADEME, 2021). This implies a reflection on the construction of an interdisciplinary approach that meets the requirements of public action and the needs of modern societies, which raises issues of articulation between research and action and redefinition of the relationship between science and society (GAUTHIER, 2009). It remains now to continue this common work, where everyone has a role to play, in order to develop a modern and sustainable urbanism, respectful of Human and his environment.
REFERENCES :
ADEME, 2021. Urban planning and layout., https://www.ademe.fr/expertises/urbanisme-amenagement
BERDOULAY, V., SOUBEYRAN, O., 2002. Urban ecology and urban planning, Paris, La Découverte.
EMELIANOFF, C. (2004). Sustainable urbanism? Ecology & Politics, 29, 13-19.
GAUTHIER, M. (2009). Urban planning and sustainable development. Urban Environment, 3.
GUERMOND, Y. (2006). Rethinking urban planning through sustainable development. Natures Sciences Sociétés, 14.
SAGELOLI, R. (2018). Planning and sustainable development, the eco-districts approach. Blog of Urban Planning and Development Law, https://droit-urbanisme-et-amenagement.efe.fr/2018/05/14/amenagement-et-developpement-durable-la-demarche-ecoquartiers/