In this new edition of Euronews Debates, our panel of experts looks at the future of urban planning, between sustainability and inclusiveness.
Today, 56% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this figure continues to rise, leading to growing challenges for sustainable urbanization.
Urban planning has transformed the face of many metropolises around the world, notably by significantly rethinking mobility and ecology.
Major events, such as the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, have reshaped and transformed some cities, particularly in the area of urban mobility.
In China, the 2008 Olympic Games and those of 2022 were also formidable catalysts for greening and decarbonizing large cities.
To address this theme, Euronews and French CGTN invited four experts to debate, including Vassilia Pirierros, architect, Géry Leloutre, Belgian urban architect, Ding Yifan, Chinese economist, and Fabrice Fourcade, president of EDF China.
Major events transform cities
Architect Géry Leloutre explains to us that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have above all contributed to strengthening already existing urban structures.
This rehabilitation made it possible to correct a certain social inequality in the Parisian area. Particularly in Seine-Saint-Denis, a department located north of Paris and affected by poverty.
The reorganization of the Parisian transport network has made it possible to connect peripheral areas to Paris thanks to this important Grand Paris express project.
The global sporting event also contributed to the acceleration of soft mobility. This allowed the sharing of public space between automobile mobility and public transport, cyclists and pedestrians.
How does town planning manage to combine modernity and the historical heritage of large cities?
The architect Vassilia Pirierros, based in China, invites us to first look at Chinese urbanization, which experienced a surge between 1970 and 2020.
She explains that “the rate in 50 years of urbanization has increased from 20% to 60%”, while at the same period in France, “it increased from 70% to 80%”.
For her, “these figures highlight very different scenarios”, because “China is facing enormous urban pressures”. Since the 1960s, the country’s authorities have been concerned about urban sprawl and its delimitation.
To combat the irrational development of cities, the Chinese government has adopted, as part of the Red Line Ecological Protection Plan, the protection of 30% of its land. Thanks to this system, ecosystems have been restored.
France, for its part, adopted a law to achieve zero net land take by 2050. The country is already planning to halve the consumption of natural, agricultural and forest areas in around ten years.
When it comes to the heritage and heritage of a city, they do not reside only in the architectural aspect.
We must also take into consideration “the urban heritage, but also the landscape heritage”, it is this whole which establishes the physical and cultural identity of a city.
Create harmony between nature and man
It has been 5 years since certain large cities in the country such as Beijing and Shanghai have benefited from the creation of hundreds of small green spaces. They allow residents, who live in large buildings, to come together to enjoy the vegetation.
According to economist Ding Yifan, China’s new urbanization plan aims to reverse the trend of ever-bigger cities.
The government plans to build thousands of small towns with a focus on greening. This will allow people to reconnect with nature.
Greener cities
To achieve the objective of sobriety, the thermal efficiency of buildings is essential. The president of the Electricité de France (EDF) company in China Fabrice Fourcade explains that a better insulated building consumes less heat in winter and less cold in summer.
It is also necessary “to replace fossil fuels with renewable energies”.
Very strong promotion of the heat pump to replace the traditional gas boiler is at work in Europe.
The fight against thermal strainers is also one of the levers for reducing energy consumption and its impact on the environment.
In France, new regulations will come into force on January 1, 2025. Housing provided with an energy performance diagnosis (EPD) will be prohibited from renting.
The Sino-French eco-city
This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China, but also the 10th anniversary of the Sino-French eco-city of Caidian located in the city of Wuhan.
As Fabrice Fourcade recalls, France and China “have been working hand in hand since the 2015 Paris agreements on the climate. »
The eco-city is one of the flagship projects that demonstrate Sino-French cooperation in sustainable development.
China remains a pioneer in renewable energy. In 2023, according to the IRENA report, the country represented almost two thirds of the global progress in renewable energies with 297 GW.
The future of urban planning will be eco-responsible
For our four experts, town planning must be respectful of the environment and take into account local resources. It must also consider the expectations of residents by integrating their social needs.
Even if the participation of residents is an objective of Agenda 21, citizen support remains difficult to implement by local public authorities.
In Belgium, the city of Brussels is at the forefront: it has put citizen participation at the heart of its urban renovation policy by adopting a system called the neighborhood contract.
Consultations take place with the municipality, residents, social actors and the authorities which manage urban space (cleanliness, housing, parks, etc.).
This plan allowed citizens to have their expectations taken into account in the proposed development projects.
Beyond its important aspects, town planning will have to meet the challenge of inclusion by creating spaces that allow for connections, but also social diversity.
The notion of balance between nature and man is a cardinal value for the future of urban planning.