Publication
Over the course of history, the relationship between cities and their waters has shown different gradients of interweaving, marked by cycles of bonding and distancing. Following a period of complete neglect of urban watercourses, the versatile, multifaceted, and transcalar nature of these interactions raises today questions about their potential for renewal. Indeed, the challenges posed by transitions towards sustainability - notably the inward densification of urban territories - combined with the challenges of resilience - as in the case of flood risk management strategies - give rise to a wide-ranging field of exploration concerning the evolution of urban riverbanks. As a result, rather depreciated sites such as riverside brownfields or industrial estates becoming obsolete represent significant potential for the creation of new dense, mixed-use neighborhoods close to public transport.
The research focuses on the Rhone area, an emblematic object of study for the territorial, regional and local issues raised by past and future development of the river. Many issues - environmental, climate-related, landscape-related, urban planning, architectural, technical, economic and socio-cultural - are at stake in the transformation of urban sites along the Rhone. The regeneration of these urban brownfields into resilient fluvio-neighborhoods is based on their common and unique characteristics. The aim of the research is, therefore, to develop cutting-edge knowledge in understanding the challenges raised by the transition of rhodanian urban sites towards sustainability.
In addition to defining the "Rhodanie urbaine" and developing knowledge of its plural nature, the thesis presents three major contributions, constituting a specific integrative strategy for rhodanian neighborhoods in transition.
The first contribution is conceptual: the notion of a new city-river balance, which enables us to imagine dynamic, co-evolving relationships between cities and the Rhone, acknowledging both their complementarities and their contradictions. From this perspective, six balance components - Positivizing the risk, Energy Transition, Environmental dynamics, Living environments, Shared processes, River agilities - serve as drivers for fostering resilient fluvio-urban territories.
The second contribution is methodological: the research by design approach, which considers the project process as a knowledge tool. It includes the selection of four study sites - at the neighborhood scale and on the banks of the Rhone - the development of three prospective attitudes and a sustainability assessment method. On this basis, project-based visions are developed to explore the spatial dialectic between river and city and their potential for city-river balance.
Finally, the third contribution is operational: two concrete, complementary tools designed to assess and represent the new city-river balance in its multiple, dynamic character. Robust and flexible, tailor-made for the rhoda
Marine Françoise Jeannine Villaret