Anne Portnoï: The tradition of town design and its transmission by those involved in the development of new towns in France

This research focuses on defining a post-war British urban planning tradition and its transmission to France in the context of the construction of new towns. The first part of my thesis seeks to outline the contours of this tradition. I use the term ‘tradition’ to refer to a coherent body of know-how, methods and operational concepts, commonly used by a group of professionals and partially codified. The period under consideration spans some thirty years, from around 1940 to 1970.

The key players belong primarily to two major public institutions, acting as both project owners, planners and builders: the London County Council’s Department of Architecture, responsible, in particular, for drawing up the 1943 London Plan and its implementation in the British context; and the IAURP, responsible for the creation of new towns in the Paris region in the French context. I analyse the urban planning practices of officials from these two institutions, their use of urban concepts, the planning mechanisms and methodological approaches they implement.

The thesis is structured in two parts: the first defines these urban planning concepts within the British context and examines how they were put into practice and formalised; the second analyses their reception and adaptation within the French context, as well as the motivations of the key players involved.