wren. In France, a Medel Sustainable Suburb - Design - The Attantic Cites, In France, a Model Sustainable Suburb AID BENFIELD FEB22,2012 COMMENTS Jn 2008, the substantially updated town center of Plessis-Robinson, a suburb of Paris, was named “the best urban neighborhood builtin the last 25 years” by the European Architecture Foundation, A composite of six connected districts ranging in size from 5.6 to 59 acres, the revitalization, comprises public buildings, itl, markt-fate and subsden affordable housing, pare school ford RT alte ana hoopla Conseosto aes GU SOT SO From the baginning, the concep was to develop a highly Yisonment, while using lgalysouresd materials as much as possible and preserving weland habiatrThe town a whole “now contains seve parks and gardens amounting to over 1 scar prolate preen spac, (There areaiso ‘ rans Rousing many of he lowes 240 companie and 11,000 employees.) Architecturally grounded in traditional French forms, the rebuilt sections look much as if they have been there for years. ae —_—_—AOAECTlerE/ The Eco Compact City Network, a European forum for municipalities, developers, architects, and other practitioners interested in green urbanism, describes the intintion belinad the tasformati The construction of the new urban centre is part of a particular town planning policy which the Municipality of Pessis-Robinson developed at the beginning, of the 90s in order to start a Virtuous process of transformation ofa typical suburban settlement into a true urban environment, The project of (master planner] Frangois Spoerry develops an attitude towards the creation of a hierarchy-oriented urban fabric in a regional style which strongly contributes to establish a clear identity in an subuirban settlement which has chaotically 2012021297 sallanticties.comidesit TS.Cone /visa {in France, a Mode! Sustainable Suburb - Design -The Atlante Ces .gfown up in the periphery of a large metropolis lke the Franch capital Being conccived as a model (or future similar interventions of urban renaissance, the re urbanisation plan has proven to be highly successful among the residents. While the reduced budget of [subsidized affordable] housing settlements did not allow the use of marble and stone, the extreme attention paid in the design process has led to a remarkable result of balance between the richness of details and the global coherence of the whole. Theat Pessicobinson back in 2009, ater it had won tep honors in the Phillipe Rotthier European Prize competition, selected by a jury of international architess and urbanists [ cited one of my fellow travelers in urbanist circles, Lawrence Autbach, wito had previously written about the projects green features: Plessis-Robinson’s style o(Gustainabiity pmphasizes parks and flowers, clean water, Galkablojarban design transit nonpoating weRiCS, and green recycling, compact and technical and adiministrativeprOcedurcs for city government Under French law governing municipalities, Plessis-Robinson is a commune, sitting about 6.5 miles, from the heart of Paris. In the satellite images, you see the town in relation to central Paris (with the centrally located Cathedral Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower marked for reference). And you see the area covered by the commune (about 1.3 square miles total), along with the more central revitalized Portion, Its population was estimated at 26,581 in 2008, lessis-Robinson is served by bus transit and, about a mile from the canter of town, the RER, the excellent regional rail system that serves Paris and its surroundings (there isa shuttle from P-R). Residents of the northeastern portion of the town are within comfortable walking distance to the rall station. Several new tram lines are also repostely ia the works ‘Aurbach writes that, as of 1989 when a progressive mayor was elected (you see him in the video ies.comidesign/2012002...12971wns In France, a Model Sustainable Suburb - Design - The Alla Ctios below), "three quarters of the city’s residential stock was dilapidated public housing,” Some of the housit demolished to make way for the new development, which atin y But now within a mixed-income, mixed-use community. renovated and some w ‘The town’s oficial website (in French) highlights its com to sustainable development, including walkable re, low-emission vehicles, water recycling, green space, a municipal tree registry, and accountability to the public. ‘There is reported history in the arca now known as Plessis-Robinson dating as far back as 839, according to otis. The building that is now the Town Hall was builtin the 17th century. Plessis was a popular weekend getaway for Parisians in the nineteenth century, and a more recent building boom took place after the turn of the 20th century Below is a terrific video showing the town’s progress. It’s in French but has great visuals and is highly informative even if you don’t speak the language. It looks like a great place to live, Photo courtesy of Flickr user This post originally appeared on the NRDC's blog. eyo: Pari, Sustainabity Kad Benfield the director ofthe Sustainable Communities and Smatt Growth program atthe Natural Resources Defense Council cofounder ofthe LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, and coounder of Smatt Growth America He wrtes (almost daily sbout community, development and the environment, Fo more posts, ee f= oy home pa URBAN WONK Why Planners Need to Take ‘Agenda 21 Criticism More Seriously ies.comfdesign/20121021...1297!