Étapes marquantes du développement urbain de la Chaux-de-Fonds

The city planning of La Chaux-de-Fonds, they way we know it today, is the result of a long evolution. It starts the day after a fire which, in 1794, practically devastated the whole village. With the human and material loss which the fire caused, this disaster offered the possibility to reconstruct on a new basis. The fear of fire and the demands of the watch industry, will dictate the policy of city planners and architects. As of this event, the urban expansion of La Chaux-de-Fonds is characterised by three major stages. All three are continuous and interrelated. Each is the product of a particular person. Their coming corresponds to a precise period in time and a given context. The resulting "urban matrix", called massif, will serve for a long period of time as a model for the extension of the city. The continuous use of this model will serve until to the beginning of the 20th century and will only be abandoned at the end of the 1st world war. The present study comprises two distinctive parts, complementary and of equal importance: - A written part and - An illustrated part The choice of these two means for the research is to insure a better understanding of complex subject: - Stage 1: 1794-1795: The reconstruction of the burned down village is assigned to Moïse Perret-Gentil (1744-1815) with the introduction of the first elements of orthogonal planning. It initiates the system of the grid plan which will define future works. - Stage 2: 1831-1835: The continuous and accelerated development of the watch industry pushes the local authorities to hire the engineer Charles-Henri Junod (1795-1843) to plan an extension at a larger scale. The document is named the "General Plan of Alignments". Thanks to its singularity and its urban impact, the Junod plan occupies a significant place in this doctorate thesis. - Stage 3: 1854-1859: The arrival of the railroad, the Industrial Jura, will profoundly modify the urban configuration. The intervention of Charles-Frédéric Knab (1822- 1874) is based on the works of his predecessor. It includes the railroad as a complete part of his Plan of Alignments. It results from this study that the city plans of La Chaux-de-Fonds conceived by the engineers Charles Junod and Charles Knab are not just a simple grid plan applied at random. Their characteristics are far from the image of a checker board plan to which La Chaux-de-Fonds is usually associated to. Instead, these plans result respectively from a combination of refined imbrications of grids which perfectly connect to the existing urban tissue. Behind their apparent regularity, the Junod and Knab plans, hold a series of irregularities which insure at the same time their complexity and their richness. The works of these two engineers constitutes an exemplary case of an urban transformation, a model for a remarkable case of city planning.

Entre ville et campagne

Sophie Lufkin

Environmental, social and economic concerns linked to the sustainable development of the built-up environment are increasingly calling into question models of territorial development based on urban sprawl. This is because the process of dispersed urbanization generates social inequalities; it is based on the extensive use of automobiles, and leads to increased spending on infrastructure networks. This phenomenon tends to be explained by the search for a combination of life in the city and life in the wide-open which creates new life-styles based on the extensive use of transportation and communication systems. The analysis of these emerging practices indicates that they arise from a double pressure exerted on the population: on one hand, attraction to rural and mountain areas, and on the other hand the economic and cultural dependency vis-à-vis the large urban centers. In this context, the regeneration of urban wasteland areas appears to be a strategy capable of favoring a better anchoring between urbanization and public transport. The dynamics of off-shoring enterprises has freed up a large number of plots that are however connected to existing networks, and benefit from good accessibility and sometimes enviable centrality. The requalification of industrial wasteland has been the object of much research in the nineties, which has led to establish as principles density, mixed use and the preservation of the industrial heritage (for instance Escher-Wyss in Zurich-West, Sulzer in Winterthur, ABB in Baden, SIP in Plainpalais-Geneva). In the same way, following the abandonment of some mobility structures, research has started to focus on the fate of urban railroad wastelands. These are considered to be strategic locations to develop "compact cities", attractive for habitat and favorable for the development of social and cultural activities. Several examples in Switzerland illustrate these attempts: Ecoparc in Neuchâtel, Zurich HB, La Praille in Geneva, etc. Today, in order to offer alternatives to the urban paradigm of the compact city we focus our attention on a different type of railroad wasteland. By regional railroad wasteland we refer to areas located close to a train station, either abandoned or in the process of being abandoned, and situated in suburban or periurban zones. Though these regional railroad wastelands present advantages similar to those of the urban wastelands in terms of accessibility to public transport, they are very different by their relationship to the landscape and nature. In addition, much more affordable land prices than in city centers allow more flexibility in the choice of programs and target users. In line with the thinking led by Thomas Sieverts among others, we attempt to go beyond the antagonisms between city and country, by formulating the hypothesis that these regional railroad wastelands bring an answer that is able to reconcile the aspirations to life in the country with the requirements of sustainable territorial development. The present research aims to explore a series of urbanism strategies induced by the simultaneous and inseparable presence of the railroad and natural dimensions, which constitutes the specificity of these periurban and suburban sites. In a first phase, in order to reveal these specific characteristics we conducted a typology exercise on a sample of thirty railroad sites located on the Geneva to Sankt-Gallen axis. It extends the whole length of the country from Lake Geneva in the southwest to Lake Constance in the northeast and goes through the main city areas of the country as well as several so-called calm areas. These thirty wastelands were measured, photographed, described, analyzed and finally represented according to an innovative methodology that combines architectural, urbanism and sociological approaches. This first phase concludes with the construction of the "face" of each site; beyond the fundamental distinction between urban and regional wastelands, it leads to the identification of six individual types. In a second phase, the focus moves to the project process. In order to understand precisely the mechanisms and the stakes at play, we have analyzed several case studies of urban wastelands in various stages of advancement, going from construction finished (Zurich-West), to the beginnings of the launch of a project (Fribourg), the first stages of construction (Zurich Stadtraum-HB) and planning in the course of development (Lausanne-Malley). We thus show the main obstacles to development, then the levers, triggers or planning instruments capable of surmounting them. Finally, in the last part, we elaborate development scenarios up to 2025 for three regional wastelands of the Lake Geneva urban hub, which come from a distinct group within the typology: Versoix, La Plaine and Palézieux. The project recognizes two scales of intervention: the train station and its immediate surroundings on one hand, and the extended perimeter on the other hand, which includes land within a 500 meter radius around the station. The developments of these two perimeters are intimately linked: the creation of a pole of urbanization may induce an improvement of the rail service and vice-versa. These two embedded scales thus constitute a complex dynamic system, within which specific, though coordinated urbanism strategies are implemented, and the stakes proper to each perimeter dictate these. For the station and its immediate surroundings, the goal is primarily to increase the hospitability of the site, that is principally to increase the symbolic role of the station, to plan the equipment and infrastructure necessary in view of the increased flows of travelers, and arranging the external space by accentuating the presence of vegetation, in agreement with the local character. All of these interventions lead to the creation of a "railroad landscape" which is the regional counterpart to the urban public space. Within the extended perimeter, the project strategy rests upon the recognition of five complementary qualities: inhabited, equipped, wild, productive, to be contemplated, whose proportions vary according to the territorial insertion of the wasteland. Densification is then effected in a punctual and targeted manner, in coherence with the logic resulting from the encounter between rail and nature.

EPFL2010

Made by China: the transformation of an African city

Alexandra Belinesh Thorer

Over the past two decades China has become increasingly involved in Africa. From rising trade and investment capital to a rapid climb in industrial and construction activity, a new foundation has been laid for Africaâs development. While Africaâs economy is growing and its cities urbanizing rapidly, many African leaders follow the Chinese Model in order to modernize and develop its cities. This thesis studies the continentâs diplomatic capital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where China plays a significant role in construction and development, notably in the much-needed transportation sector. China is involved in numerous road and rail projects and now Addis Ababa is equipped with the first modern Light Rail Transit (LRT) network in Sub-Saharan Africa. An urban superstructure such as this not only changes the cityâs primary mode of transportation, but also affects Addis Ababaâs urban fabrication. Perhaps most importantly, however, the LRT serves as an icon of Africaâs rapid modernization and development. Addis Ababa is transforming rapidly. The government introduces modern master plans for its large-scale urban renewal approach and tackles the challenges of transportation through top-down planning and the implementation of new transportation systems. This construction leads to a fundamental transformation of Addis Ababaâs public spaces, which impacts the accessibility of its users as well as physical changes within the built environment. On a secondary level, this thesis explores Chinaâs financial and technological assistance to Ethiopia and questions in what manner Addis Ababa may develop into a city âmade by China.â Only little existing literature concerns Chinaâs impact on architecture, urban, and social spaces in Africaâs transformation. Inspired by the Grounded Theory Methodology, this research accumulates empirical data gathered in Addis Ababa by using photographic studies throughout the LRT construction phase. This visual exploration method occurs along the North-South and East-West corridors of the Addis Ababa LRT and is strengthened by a detailed study of five selected public spaces, which showcase a historic, cultural and political importance to the city. These studies reveal the LRT impact onto Addis Ababaâs urban as well as social transformation. The first evidence â spatiality - shows that the two LRT lines create a physical barrier and consequently fragments the city. This spatial transformation leads to the transformation of urban movement, thus mobility. By introducing a modern transport technology, existing movement patterns change in both spatial as well as temporal means. In addition, the LRT furthers the hierarchization of transportation and favors the countryâs rapid development and modernization. But this growth also leads to a disproportionate development. Referred to as an emerging global city, Addis Ababaâs path to modernization is successively neglecting its long and omnipresent history, its locality. The phenomenon of radical transformation, rapid urbanization, development, economic growth and industrialization, has more prominently been observed in China after the post-Mao market reform. Since Chinaâs presence in Africa is increasing substantially, this thesis proposes a theoretical concept described as the âChinaizationâ of urban Africa, which indicates fundamental dynamics and tendencies of Chinaâs recent development and questions the extent to which this impacts Africaâs current urbanization.

EPFL2015

Planning the heterogeneous city: an analysis of the controversies on Mumbai’s Development Plan 2014 – 2034 in the making

Tobias Stefan Baitsch

The currently on-going revision of Mumbai’s development (MDP) plan is accompanied by heated controversies over a common urban future. After publication of the draft for public consultation in February 2015 an unprecedented public outcry and strong criticism by both, experts and civil society led to its temporary withdrawal. Meanwhile the first draft was revised and replaced by a second in summer 2016. Although exceptional in scope and consequence the events around the making of Mumbai’s development plan are highly representative of the tensions and conflicts pervading the development and regulation of contemporary cities in South and North. The study of controversies induced by the MDP is a unique opportunity to develop a refined understanding of the increasing heterogeneity of contemporary urban development and the challenges that it raises for urban planning. Building on the large amount of diverse data produced during the controversies and interviews with various stakeholders, I propose an analysis of the controversies based on French pragmatist sociology as developed in On Justification (Boltanski and Thévenot 2006). Using the analytical framework of different Orders of Worths, the approach allows to symmetrically account for competing visions over the future of the city and the different paths to urbanisation. Instead of searching for the hidden (capitalist) agenda and going behind a mere description of various “assemblages”, I attempt to understand how each conception of urban development pervades both, tools of urban transformation and thinking patterns of private and public actors.