Urban soils, positive values for the city of tomorrow, symposium June 22 and 23, 2021
This new colloquium proposed by the EIVP & ECT “urban land reclamation” chair was held in partnership with ENSP, with the participation of Cycle Terre.
After a first symposium in April 2019 around “earth in all its states”, which analyzed urban land as a resource and material with multiple dimensions, ECT and EIVP are taking the discussion further by placing land at the heart of current debates on the sustainable city. Social, environmental and economic issues are at the heart of the EIVP’s teaching and research Chair.
Land is a little-known resource, and we believe that it carries a positive value, be it physical, environmental or economic, but also symbolic and social.
Every year in the Paris region, nearly 10 million m 3 of inert soil – the equivalent of 4 Khéops pyramids – are affected by public and private works. A quantity that represents a major challenge for sustainable urban and peri-urban areas.
The “Urban soils, a positive value for the city of tomorrow” symposium proposes to treat this resource as a vector for the rehabilitation of neglected sites, as a structuring element for new territorial landscapes, as an environmentally-friendly building material and, last but not least, as an indispensable element for the urban integration of green spaces of various kinds and biodiversity.
These 4 focuses demonstrate that urban soils represent a new, positive approach to integrating into sustainable city policies, in the same way as energy, with a view to saving resources and reusing environmentally-friendly materials.
A wide variety of examples and theoretical and historical approaches will be explored over the four half-days. International examples, debates and analyses of the Ile-de-France and national contexts will also be discussed. The role of new urban engineering will also be discussed, as part of the drive to give greater consideration to inert soils as part of a sustainable city approach.
The symposium program has been prepared by a committee comprising Y. Diab, S. Alix, A. Grumbach, R. Semlali, V. Piveteau, B.Julien-Labruyère, S. Devescovi, M. Castex.
The entire conference is available for replay
Part 1: Land, Land and the Sustainable City (I)
- Opening of the symposium by Laurent Mogno (President of EC) and Franck Jung (Director of EIVP) Presentation of the symposium and the VTU Chair, Antoine Grumbach (AG Territoires) and Youssef Diab (Head of the VTU Chair, EIVP, Professor of Urban Engineering, Université Gustave Eiffel) : see here
- For a circular economy of land uses, Marc Kaszynski (President of LIFTI): see here
- Acting in favor of biodiversity with terracotta landscaping, Bernard Chevassus-au-Louis (biologist, President of Humanité et Biodiversité): see here
- The innovative circular economy model for excavated soil; Laurent Mogno, President of ECT see here
- Reusing land for urban revitalization: al-Azhar Park in Cairo, Christophe Bouleau (senior conservation officer, Aga Khan Trust for Culture) see here
- Morning summary by Reda Semlali (Director of Institutional Relations and Partnerships, ECT) and Youssef Diab: see here
Part 2: Landscape manufacturing, a positive trace of the place of excavated soil
- Landscape construction. A brief history of earthworks and landscaping, Michel Audouy (Professor at ENSP): see here
- Fabricated hills, Gaalad Van Daele (architect and researcher, ETH Zürich, editor of Accatone Magazine): see here
- Inert soils: opportunities for landscaping, Loïc Pianfetti (Head of the Landscape and Biodiversity Department, SNCF networks): see here
- Dialogue between urban engineering and landscape with landscape architect Henri Bava, architect Antoine Grumbach and researchers Mathieu Fernandez, engineer and historian, and Hong Zhu, landscape architect / Conclusion by Vincent Piveteau (Director of ENSP) and Youssef Diab
Part 3: Land as material: the cycle terre project (innovative urban action)
- Earth, a living material for building cities: Jean Dethier, architect and author of Habiter la terre. Traditions, modernities and the future of earthen buildingComments by Romain ANGER, engineer (Amaco): see here
- Presentation and assessment of the Cycle Terre Innovative Urban Action: Silvia Devescovi (Cycle Terre project leader, City of Sevran), Magali Castex (Cycle Terre project co-leader, Grand Paris Aménagement): see here
- Replication and perpetuation of the model / Earth Cycle approach. Presentation of the questioning and suggested answers, Sophie Schlewitz (Quartus): see here
- Reactions from two key witnesses, Raffaele Barbato (UIA project coordinator) and François Ménard (scientific project manager, PUCA): see here
- Benoist Apparu (Chairman of In’li’s Board of Directors) concludes the morning session: see here
Part 4: Land, Land and the Sustainable City (II)
- Dynamiques d’aggradations paysagères au sein de la vallée industrielle liégeoise : la remobilisation du foncier dégradé au cœur des enjeux territoriaux, Joël PRIVOT(architect-urban planner, consultant and researcher at the University of Liège) : see here
- The art of the city hedgehog. Diplomacy and sharing the basis of life. Nicolas Gilsoul (Architect, Doctor of Science, landscape architect and Professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris Malaquais): see here
- Les sols de la ville, un socle fertile et durable, Jacqueline Osty (landscape architect, Grand Prix de l’urbanisme 2020): see here
- New approaches to sustainable urban planning: combining SHS thinking and nature, a dialogue between Luc Abbadie (ecologist, professor at Sorbonne University) and Alain Bourdin (sociologist and urban planner, professor at Gustave Eiffel University): see here.
- Summary and closing remarks by Jérôme Gleizes (President of EIVP, Paris Councillor), Youssef Diab: see here
