Charles Claron

Bio

I hold a PhD in Economics from the École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. Rooted in political and ecological economics, my research focuses on the challenges of soil conservation, sustainable management and restoration. It takes place against a backdrop where soil is the subject of unprecedented scientific, political and public concern, and where the need for sustainable soil governance is at odds with the inherited structures of land governance.

In my PhD thesis, conducted jointly at LATTS and CIRED (2020–2025), I examined the integration of land values into the legal standards, economic models and social practices that shape spatial planning. This research was structured around two lines of analysis. On the one hand, an empirical study of the territorialisation of land-valuation regimes – notably through the negotiation of land-use arrangements – provides an understanding of the reciprocal interactions between changes in land value and relations of appropriation. On the other hand, at a more macroeconomic level, I analysed how the contemporary political focus on land – embodied by the adoption of the ‘Zero Net Land Take’ target – is reshaping land governance. This led me to examine the similarities between the ‘Zero Net Land Take’ (ZAN) policy and tradable quota schemes, as well as to study the structure and dynamics of the land restoration sector and the costs associated with this activity.

Aujourd’hui, je prolonge ces travaux dans le cadre d’un post-doctorat au sein du projet ECOMODAM. Je m’intéresse à la place du sol dans l’écologisation de la production urbaine, en analysant la transformation des représentations, des pratiques et des modes d’organisation des aménageurs pour prendre en compte la santé des sols et leurs fonctions écologiques.