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Sustainable Cities: Driving urban change through design
Launched in March 2012, the mission of the Sustainable Cities Center of Design and Innovation is to assert the designer role in the building of the city of tomorrow. Overview of challenges by Florent Orsoni, Center Director and Course Leader of the Mutations of the Built Environment Program.
Sustainable Cities Design
Given the broad discussions circulating on the topic of the 21st century city, the Sustainable City Center of Design and Innovation is devoted to asserting the designer role in making the “sustainable city” initiative a tangible one.
The creation of the Sustainable City Center of Design and Innovation factors among the major challenges awaiting the 21st century, and namely our “way of city-dwelling.” More than ever, the multitude of disciplines and expertise is taking center stage with design at its protagonist, soliciting and soldering a broad spectrum of skill sets and competencies. The breadth of know-how forms the basis upon which the sustainable city emerges.
New challenges
Two main challenges lie ahead for designers both in France and abroad. The first involves the “mutation of the built environment”, depicting both an urban explosion and a demographic one, and the second is the rise of new mobilities on the upswing from these new ways of city-dwelling.
As a result, building and commuting are no longer what they used to be. But does that mean that progress is headed down a slippery slope? How may city center population density and quality of life find a happy medium? How may identity be restored? In what way may commutes be optimized in increasingly congested city centers? How can economic growth be bolstered in remote areas? The question is not only the business of the architect, engineer, city-planner and geographer: It is of utmost importance that the designer take hold as well.
The role of the innovation center through design
There exist telling signs that signal the urgency to incorporate design into the city-planning process. Among them are the growing awareness and accountability of accessibility-related uses, whose status has become mandatory following enforcement of the provisions concerning the Law on Disability, as well as the surge in transportation means (intermodality) due to fewer and fewer car commutes in city centers.
A student-fueled initiative
Students enrolled in the Mutations of the Built Environment and New Mobilities Master’s programs are going head-to-head with these issues through seminars in conjunction with specialists whose fields (Design, Sociology, Architecture, Urban-planning, Transportation, etc.) are most closely tied to sustainable city matters.
This approach enables partners to see eye-to-eye with one another in an effort to establish common ground and swap innovative ideas on questions spanning city center commuting methods, city center mutations, the evolution of urban property, user-friendliness, and interactive field tools and rules.
An ever-assertive grasp
A fresh look is backed by a still relatively unknown discipline, yet one paramount to building the city of tomorrow. As a result of the innovation centers at L’École de design, students have at their fingertips tremendous leverage to help them propel their ideas in France and abroad. The combination of the first research articles published and academic partners lays the groundwork for bringing together field experts and exchanging points of view.
The ultimate goal of innovation centers is also to provide a nurturing environment (methodological support, partnerships) wherein students’ projects can take form and, eventually, flight. The opportunities in this field are abundant given the limitless potential of innovation made possible by design.
Conferences and Seminars
27 April 2012: Conference on “Heritage and Accessibility” in Belgium – partnered with the GAMAH (Action Group defending Better Accessibility for the Disabled) Association.
25 May 2012: Connections, Training, Consulting (École des Ponts ParisTech - Elite Engineering Institute in Paris) on “Participative strategies” – organized by CERTU (Center for the Study of Urban-planning, Transport and Public Facilities).
14 June 2012: National Assembly on Accessibility: “The Ideal street” project presentation.
19 June 2012: EcoQuartier Regional Workshop: What public spaces may be found in EcoQuartiers? At the L’École de design, partnered with Pays de la Loire’s DREAL (Regional Committee for the Environment, Planning and Housing).
20 June 2012: Nantes Businesses and Accessibility: Project backed by 1st-year Spatial Design students, presented to Nantes City Hall.
22-26 June 2012: From Roads to Buildings: Strategy and Accessibility-planning – CAUE de la Réunion (Reunion Island Council for Architecture, Urban-planning and the Environment), co-facilitated with Catherine Choquet, Deputy Mayor of Nantes and Community Advisor.
November 2012: Presenter at the “Socially Sustainable Design Symposium” conference series, ABX [ArchitectureBoston Expo] Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
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