In September 2017, I was fortunate enough to travel to Cergy-Pontoise in France for the 35th International Urban Planning Workshop organised by Les Ateliers de maîtrise d’œuvre urbaine. The workshop was focused on the inclusive city and its spatial and urban responses, and had 21 participants, all selected through an international call for candidates
For many years, the Île-de-France has found itself confronted by several phenomena that question as much the idea of living together as the region’s ability to adapt to change, of which it has become necessary to rapidly address. Les Ateliers de Cergy proposed to work on the spatial and urban responses by defining the concept of an inclusive city at different sites within the Île-de-France.
The workshop began with several days of immersion to discover the territory and working topics, including tours of the territory accompanied by its stakeholders, organised thematic conferences, meetings with professionals, experts in the topics being examined during the workshop, and representatives from the local population. The workshop then continued with 2 weeks of team work, punctuated by moments of exchange. The ‘exchange forums’ are open to the public and allow teams to exchange with local actors and workshop partners on the progress of each of their proposals at this mid-point. The workshop concluded with presentations by the teams before an international and local jury on 21-22 September 2017.
Intended to be an intensive three weeks of learning and working, the workshop asked: How can exclusion be avoided by thinking about cities for all ? What forms of cooperation and mutualisation should be created between the economy, housing, and services? How can existing processes, whether they be informal or temporary, be valorised in order to facilitate the inclusion of the most vulnerable populations? Run by Véronique Valenzuela and Cécile Mattoug, the workshop asked participants to imagine the inclusive city of tomorrow as a driver of value and wealth creation.
For more on the workshop and its outcomes, visit https://www.ateliers.org/en/workshops/201/
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