Paris’ bioclimatic local urban plan in the face of slab communities: limits and adaptability

Abstract

In order to face socio-environmental issues, Paris is planning to change its urban planning regulations: the local urban plan (PLU) will become a bioclimatic local urban plan by early 2024. The term bioclimatic refers to an architectural concept that adapts to the characteristics and particularities of the site: its climate, geography and geomorphology. A bioclimatic PLU will take advantage of the environment to achieve the most coherent design possible. As the Parisian PLU is the first to become bioclimatic, it seems relevant to confront the ambitions announced with the feelings of specific inhabitants’ communities who are the most confronted to global warming effects.

In Paris, there is a significant amount of slabs and their characteristics present risks that are increasing with global warming. The inhabitants of these slabs can therefore be considered as particularly vulnerable communities. That is why we are going to focus on a series of communities that are both specific and very present in Paris: the inhabitants of urban planning slabs. The problem that will guide this master thesis will be therefore the following: What are the limits and potential adaptations of Paris’s bioclimatic local urban plan to slab communities? Our case study will focus on the 8 slabs identified in the inner city of Paris.

Our methodology rests on a series of interviews, which allow us to ascertain whether these populations are aware of the risks to which they are exposed, and also to understand their lifestyles and their current and future needs in relation to the ambitions of the bioclimatic PLU. We thus aim to explore the potential and relevance of this city-wide regulations through specific territorial samples.

The results will show firstly that it not excessive to use the word "community" to talk about the inhabitants of the slabs, but also that specific lifestyles, habits or shared cultural elements constitute a real wealth that bioclimatic discourses must take into account. One of the main conclusions of this work is to consider the potential of slabs and renovate them, rather than treating them as obsolete objects and destroying them. If it seems urgent to change the layout of the slabs, today very exposed to the effects of global warming, it nevertheless seems important to preserve their specificities and adapting them. Although rehabilitation policies already take a primordial place in the future bioclimatic PLU, the desire to de-waterproof the slabs could legitimize their destruction.

Finally, we attempt to demonstrate that the bioclimatic local urban plan and all the communication that will come around can be a good opportunity to ensure the knowledge of inhabitants on these subjects. We can obviously say that this lack of knowledge, is an even greater problem for slabs communities that are most affected by climate change and who have fewer resources. Again, the PLU bioclimatic, and the means deployed for its communication, can be a good opportunity to reduce this gap.