Seine-Saint-Denis: these cities that plan to build on stilts to “leave the soil to nature”

L'intercommunalité veut repenser la manière de construire pour préserver les sols

Posted Sep 29, 2022, 6:49 PMUpdated on Sep 29, 2022 at 6:50 PM

Stilts to preserve the soil. Seine-Saint-Denis may already be heavily artificialized due to its proximity to Paris and its rich industrial past, but its elected officials do not admit defeat. Between the Olympic Games and the Grand Paris Express, the department has become an open-air construction site where buildings and equipment are growing at full speed. How, in these conditions, can we preserve the soil and therefore the future?

The fourteen communes of the Grand Paris Grand Est intercommunality (Neuilly-Plaisance, Clichy-sous-Bois, Montfermeil, etc.) are currently working on this delicate subject that they want to integrate into their future local urban planning plan, voted at the start of 2023. At the manoeuvre, the vice-president for the development of the intercommunality, and mayor (LR) of Neuilly-Plaisance Christian Demuynck, who defends an astonishing concept, that of “Urbanism of Anticipation and Dissociation Environmental »

Build on stilts to leave the ground to nature

What does it consist on ? Firstly, “anticipation” consists in adapting new constructions to the climatic changes predicted by scientists between now and 2100, and in particular to extreme heat, thanks to suitable materials and ventilated constructions. As for “environmental dissociation”, it is a question of “considering that the soil is a common good, which does not belong to anyone and which therefore cannot be appropriated”, according to Christian Demuynck.

Concretely, it would therefore be a question, on all human constructions (buildings, roads), of building on pilings of a few centimeters. In this way, the soil can be left to nature and de-waterproofed, in order to be able to absorb water, refresh the surroundings and accommodate living things.

Prioritizing the environment over development

“It will be necessary to show pedagogy with the inhabitants, so that they understand that, if in this policy their immediate needs come after the environment, it is above all to reap the fruits in the future”, justifies the mayor from Neuilly-Plaisance.

But fellow citizens will not be the only ones to convince, and it will probably be necessary to force the hand of real estate developers, he admits. Indeed, within the framework of this policy, for example, there is no question of underground parking, which reduces the area available for construction. Not to mention the additional costs generated by the construction on stilts.

This also means rethinking the choice of materials. “Rather than simply imposing 20 or 30% of biosourced and reused materials, promoters should systematically offer the highest possible rate,” indicates Christian Demuynck.

After having tested this urban planning at Parc du Plateau d’Avron, Grand Paris Grand Est is looking for a large-scale experimentation site. It then plans to generalize it if the measures and the results are conclusive, or after certain adaptations. Discussions are underway with several mayors of the territory to find the most suitable site.

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