Centrale Internationale

Smarter town planning: utopian dream

or future reality?

With the constant rise in urban populations, new town plans are being designed by architects to better meet the needs of city dwellers.

You live in Marseille. It is 8 o'clock in the morning and y

ou are once again stuck in a traffic jam! Your home is in Borély and you work only 7 km away, in la Joliette. But this journey takes you 1 hour every morning and every evening. Alone in your car, lost in the smog, you dream of a solution to escape this nightmare…

Stop dreaming! Creative technological solutions have already been found. Eco-neighbourhoods, new types of apartment blocks and revolutionary cities have already been built.

After years of studies and experimention, researchers, architects and town planners have concluded that turning old neighbourhoods into eco-neighbourhoods is the best solution. Some successful examples in Europe include Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm, Eva Lanxmeer in Holland and Confluence in Lyon.

“ Confluence welcomes you regardless of your age or social status ”

To achieve such a transformation, certain rules must be respected.

First, social diversity must be one of the fundamental building blocks - these new neighbourhoods should not become rich isolated districts! In Confluence, the slogan is “Confluence welcomes you regardless of your age or social status”. This diversity is vital in creating a sense of community.

Smart and ecological transport facilities should also be built to connect people within the neighbourhood, as well as connecting them with other areas of the city. The “eco cycles” in Hammarby Sjöstard and the tram in Confluence are some smart solutions to create this link.

Hammarby Stöstad: the successful renovation of an underprivileged industrial neighbourhood…

… Into a beautiful well-designed neighbourhood synonymous with comfortable living!

Buildings, waste treatment systems and especially water-treatment plants need to become less harmful to the environment. In Hammarby Sjönstard household refuse is collected via underground pipes. In Eva Lanxmeer wastewater is treated thanks to a bioprocess! Bacteria in the neighbourhood pond transform noxious waste into harmless particles!

Eco-neighbourhoods are only one solution… Scientists have been looking deeper into other concepts such as fully sustainable cities. This challenge is particularly attractive because all the techniques found to lower energy consumption and gas emissions can be implemented in eco-neighbourhoods.

One project can be found in Abu Dhabi. Masdar is a paradise for environmentalists. No carbon is emitted in the city and only renewable energy sources are used. To symbolize the power of science in this achievement, the research institute was the first building constructed.

Finally research has also been done on the buildings themselves, in order to improve city dwellers’ lives. Architects tried to revolutionize the way of building skyscrapers. One pioneer was Le Corbusier, with his famous "Cité radieuse" ("Radiant city") building in Marseille. To reduce transport time and create a sense of community, he integrated all the facilities a family could need in the same building :  a swimming pool, some shops and even a nursery!

And this solution has been copied in other places: new skyscrapers offer shops one one level, flats on another and offices on the top floors. What's more, these new towers, thanks to their renewable energy production facilities, use less energy than they produce.

Quiz!! 

Was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris - better known as Le Corbusier - an architect, a town planner, a set designer, a painter or a sculptor?

All of them! And he was considered as a genius in most of these fields.

His ground-breaking works in Marseille, Ronchamp or Firminy are known worldwide.