ENHR 2025 Grand Paris - Fieldtrips

1. Noisy-Mont d’Est: Housing Development in the Urban Core of a French New Town

Organizer: Clément Orillard (Université Paris-Est-Créteil, Lab’Urba)

Marne-la-Vallée is one of the five new towns established around Paris since the late 1960s, conceived as sites for innovative housing experiments. Its “regional urban core,” centered on the Noisy-Mont d’Est RER station, was developed between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s under the direction of the Marne-la-Vallée Public Development Corporation. Although initially designed to accommodate primarily office buildings, the area was partially reoriented towards residential use. This shift led to the construction of large-scale housing developments ranging from social housing to market-based units and reflecting architectural trends from late modernism to postmodernism.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h15

On-site Meeting Point: RER A – Noisy Mont d’Est: station Entrance in the Arcades Shopping Centre (From the RER A station: Exit 1) 15h

Maximum number of participants : 30

2. Noisiel: From Working-class Housing Estate to New Town

Organizer: Loïc Vadelorge (Université Gustave Eiffel, ACP)

The route from the Noisiel RER station to the Menier factory (historic site) takes you on a journey through time, from the latest housing developments in the new town of Marne la Vallée to the workers’ housing estate built by chocolate manufacturer Menier in the 19th century, via suburban housing estates and townhouses built in the last decades of the 20th century. It testifies to the variety of housing typologies in French new towns and their ecological possibilities.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h15

On-site Meeting Point: RER A – Noisiel-le-Luzard station , Esplanade: exit 1, grande allée des Bois 14h45

Maximum number of participants : 30

3. Saint-Denis: The Olympic Village as part of the Regeneration of Northern Grand Paris

Organizers: Hélène Dang Vu and Joël Idt (Université Gustave Eiffel, Lab’urba), with the participation of Henry Specht, Director of Development Operation at SOLIDEO (Olympic Games Delivery Authority)

This field trip presents the emblematic Athletes’ Village project in its territorial context. This metropolitan area is full of contrasts: Seine-Saint-Denis is the poorest département in France, but it is also a major economic area of the Grand Paris and the site of emblematic metropolitan facilities. From the Stade de France to the Village, the walk will pass by different iconic urban development projects left over from the urban development ages in the area, before arriving in the village. Is the Olympic Village playing the same game as previous projects? To feed the discussion, we will meet a representative responsible for the village’s construction who will present the project and its urban and housing challenges.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h30

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.14 – Saint-Denis Pleyel station: at the foot of the esplanade stairs 15h

Maximum number of participants : 20

4. Val d’Europe: In the Shadow of Disneyland Paris

Organizers: Sophie Didier and Julien Aldhuy (Université Gustave Eiffel/UPEC, Lab’urba)

The aim of the field trip is to understand the links between the Walt Disney Company’s Marne-la-Vallée theme park (Disneyland Paris) and the surrounding urban areas whose recent development is tied to the tourism cluster. The first stage will focus on the park’s location and the process that brought together public and private stakeholders to create and develop it (walk around Marne-la-Vallé-Chessy RER station). The second stage will explore the different urban forms that have accompanied its development (walk from Val d’Europe RER station).

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h15

On-site Meeting Point: RER A – Chessy-Marne-la-Vallée station : exit Disney Village : in front of the green point “tourisme information” 15h

Maximum number of participants : 25

5. Créteil: A Planned Centrality in the Grand Paris

Organizers: Claire Hancock and Laurent Coudroy de Lille (Université Paris Est Créteil, Lab’urba)

While Créteil’s growth in the 1950s was typical of working-class Parisian peripheries, with single-family homes and a housing estate (the Mont Mesly), it changed rapidly from the 1960s on, since the city became a new administrative center (‘pôle restructurateur de banlieue’), attracting more middle-class populations. The University was created in the 1970s along with many housing estates representative of the aesthetics of the ’New Créteil’. Today it stands as a quite unique example of planned growth in the Grand Paris, and the visit illustrates the recent history of urbanism, with iconic buildings such as the Choux chosen for the conference website.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.8 – Créteil Université station 15h

Maximum number of participants : 25

6. Stains: Social Housing Experiences in Modular Buildings

Organizer: Jodelle Zetlaoui-Léger (School of architecture Paris La Villette, LAVUE)

This field trip will provide an opportunity to discover two transitional modular housing projects in a department heavily affected by poor housing and social insecurity. The first project, led by the association Les Enfants du Canal, was developed through a participatory approach and has supported thirty Roma families since 2021. The second, initiated by the company Toits Temporaires Urbains, is currently being developed to accommodate women with children in a neighborhood undergoing renovation. These initiatives, supported by the City of Stains, aim at promoting social inclusion and access to employment. They have been designed with a focus on ecological and land-use efficiency, featuring reversible developments and reusable high-energy-performance wooden modules.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h40

On-site Meeting Point: RER B – Le Bourget station, on the platform from Paris 14h45

Maximum number of participants : 20

7. Nanterre: Maintaining affordable housing

Organizers: Anne-Laure Jourdheuil and Frédéric Dufaux (Université Paris Nanterre, LAVUE)

Due to various demographic and social changes, the growth of the housing stock and the challenges of the rehabilitation of the existing stock, the question of maintaining affordable housing in the municipality has arisen in the city of Nanterre.
Through a tour of various neighbourhoods, we will look back at the history of affordable housing in Nanterre, especially social housing, from the housing estates built in the 1950s and 1960s,(without forgetting the numerous slums which existed at the same time, mostly racialized), through the urban renewal projects of 2000-2010, to the mixed housing estates currently under construction in the ZAC des Groues.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h45

On-site Meeting Point: RER A – Nanterre Université station: entrance “la Contemporaine 184” Cour Nicole Dreyfus, 92000 Nanterre 15h

Maximum number of participants : 20

8. Grigny: Public Intervention Project for Run-down Multi-property Buildings

Organizers: Camille Chicoteau, Benoit Bichet, Joséphine Caniou, Thomas Marchal, Tsolinée Simonian (Etablissement public foncier d’Ile-de-France)

The former ‘Grigny 2’ multi-ownership buildings, built in the early 1970s, account for almost half of the population of the town of Grigny (Essonne). 17,000 residents live there in almost 5,000 housing units and thirty buildings in an area of around 50 hectares – a sort of ‘private town within a town’. These buildings have undergone a process of severe physical deterioration and have been beset by major social problems for several years. An operation of ‘national interest’ funded by public investment is therefore underway to improve the living conditions of the residents with the idea of transforming Grigny 2 into a socially and environmentally responsible neighbourhood.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h30

On-site Meeting Point: RER D – Grigny centre, esplanade at the RER exit 15h

Maximum number of participants : 20

9. Paris: Social Housing and Architectural Heritage

Organizer: Lucie Lescude (Paris Habitat)

Social housing in Paris is an integral part of the city’s built environment, reflecting the evolving visions and policies that have shaped its development for over a century. Paris Habitat, a public social housing company founded in 1914 and the largest social housing provider in the city, exemplifies this evolution through its diverse housing stock. From the red-brick buildings of the interwar period to today’s adaptive reuse projects, this field trip will guide you through the history and architecture of social housing in Paris.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h

Metro L.14 – Olympiades station

Maximum number of participants : 30

10. Aubervilliers: Urban Change and Local Struggles

Organizers: Sabrina Bresson et Yaneira Wilson (School of architecture, Paris Val de Seine, LAVUE)

This field trip explores the profound urban change of Fort d’Aubervilliers, an underprivileged neighborhood in the northern Paris suburb. It will examine local resistance movements led by various community associations fighting to preserve affordable housing, public green spaces, and social dynamics, in the face of metropolitan expansion and gentrification trends.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h30

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.7 – Fort d’Aubervilliers station: exit 1 “av. Jean Jaurès” 15h

Maximum number of participants : 20

11. Paris: The Socio-ecological Transition of Housing. Parisian Experiments

Organizer: Yoan Miot (Université Gustave Eiffel, Latts)

The field trip will present two Parisian projects that seek to integrate the challenges of the socio-ecological transition into housing development. More specifically, the visit will focus on the urban development project of the former Saint-Vincent-de-Paul hospital in the 14th arrondissement and the project site stemming from the “Réinventer Paris” programme, the “Ferme du Rail” in the 19th arrondissement. In both cases, these initiatives explore ways to reconcile social, environmental imperatives through participatory approaches involving users and residents. Practitioners from the City of Paris and the public development body Paris & Métropole Aménagement will be taking part in the tour.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h45

On-site Meeting Point: Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Hospital, 82, avenue Denfert-Rochereau RER B – Denfert-Rochereau station, 15h

Maximum number of participants : 25

12. Montreuil and Bagnolet: Walking on the Edge. Urban and Landscape Regeneration in the Paris Eastern Suburbs

Organizer: Paul Lecroart (Institut Paris Région)

This 3-hour walking tour will take us from Eastern Paris across the brutalist Porte de Bagnolet 1960s road and shopping mall infrastructure complex to the Jean Moulin-Les Guilands park with spectacular views on the Grand Paris, and then to social housing estates in Montreuil and Bagnolet (Est Ensemble). The whole area is going through large-scale transformation processes, including housing and public space renewal, the Parc des Hauteurs project and the future restructuring of the A1 motorway. The visit will give the opportunity to reflect on the challenge to transform 1960s fonctionalist urban environments into healthy and livable neighbourhoods.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.3 – Porte de Bagnolet station: in front of Severine Square 15h

Maximum number of participants : 30

14. Romainville: The “Youri Gagarine” District, from Urban Renewal to Inclusive Housing

Organizers: Audrey Courbebaisse, (ENSA Toulouse, LRA), Marion Ille-Roussel (Ecole d’architecture Paris Val-de-Seine, LAVUE), Thomas Watkin (Projekt, UNIMES)

The Youri Gagarine neighbourhood in Romainville is typical of the large housing estates in the Parisian suburbs. This field trip presents the urban regeneration policies implemented in these neighbourhoods, and especially new intergenerational initiatives held to cater to an ageing population. The visit includes a meeting with a development officer from Romainville’s urban policy department, who is in charge of the project, as well as a project manager from the Cohabilis association (Joachim Pasquet and Emilie Saint-Macary), which has been commissioned to support an intergenerational project and the adaptation of a tower block in the housing project for and with the elderly. This project, which is currently underway and uses NORCs as a benchmark, will put us at the heart of a collaborative project that takes account of age and ageing as a vector for transforming social housing into inclusive housing.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h30

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.11 – Serge Gainsbourg station: Crèche Maryse Bastié, 11 Rue des Fontaines 93230 Romainville (500m from the metro station) 15h

Maximum number of participants : 25

15. Ivry-sur-Seine: From “Les Etoiles” to “Ivry Confluences”, a Journey Through 60 Years of Social and Ecological Urban Planning

Organizer: Romain Marchand, local elected official for urban planning, city of Ivry-sur-Seine

Located in the former industrial « red belt » surrounding Paris, the City of Ivry has been a pioneer in various areas of public policy, including urban planning. The renovation of its city center during the 1960s and 1970s gave rise to an avant-garde project, not only in architectural terms but also in its social and ecological dimension, led by Renée Gailhoustet and Jean Renaudie. Today, the City seeks to carry on this tradition of innovation through the Ivry Confluences project, a large-scale urban redevelopment of the former industrial district of Ivry-Port, which has been deeply affected by deindustrialization.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.7 – Mairie d’Ivry station: exit number 1 (place de la République) à 15h

Maximum number of participants : 30

16. Paris: A large-scale urban redevelopment project of an industrial and logistics district (ZAC Paris Rive-Gauche)

Organizer: Julie Chouraqui (Université Gustave Eiffel, Lab’urba)

With an area of approximately 130 hectares, the ZAC Paris Rive Gauche is the largest urban planning project in Paris since the Haussmann works of the 19th century. This visit will present this project and explore its similarities with large-scale urban development projects implemented in other European metropolitan areas since the 1980s. The tour will also provide an opportunity to observe the traces of the site’s industrial past and the different ways in which it has been appropriated and redeveloped.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 14h

On-site Meeting Point: Tramway L. 3 – Avenue de France station: at the corner of the Boulevard du Général Jean Simon and the Place Farhat Hached 15h

Maximum number of participants : 30

17. Le Plessis-Robinson: Gentrification Led by an Urban Regeneration Project in the Suburban Area of Paris

Organizer: Luc Guibard (directeur des études, CTRAD)

For the past 30 years, the municipality of Le Plessis-Robinson (6 km south of Paris) has been undergoing a vast urban renewal project led by the same city council administration. The project’s objectives are to densify the area, to increase social mix by reducing the share of social housing, and to produce architecturally homogeneous neighborhoods to break with the image of the inner suburbs. The visit will present the project (processes and actors), as well as the change it has brought to the urban landscape and social composition of the area. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss the relevance of the concepts of urban entrepreneurialism and new-build gentrification in understanding the emergence of this type of operation.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h45

On-site Meeting Point: RER B – Robinson station: exit 1 Avenue Jules Guesde 15h

Maximum number of participants : 30

18. Saint-Denis: Urban Conflicts and Olympic Games

Organizers: Claire Fonticelli (Aix Marseille Université, LIEU), Quentin Brouard-Sala (Université d’Angers), Didier Desponds (Univerité de Cergy) and Pierre Bergel (Université de Caen)

This field trip will explore the conflicts related to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis. This guided walk will examine sites of protest against the event, questioning its urban and social impacts. The focus will be on tensions surrounding housing, including accelerated gentrification, rising rents, and the eviction of precarious populations. More broadly, the reflection is part of an analysis of the ambivalent effects of major events on the city, balancing economic dynamism with social contestation.

Main Meeting Point: Conference Venue, Cité Descartes, 6 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne 13h45

On-site Meeting Point: Metro L.14 – Saint-Denis Pleyel Station 15h

Maximum number of participants : 25

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