Thesis supervisor(s)
: Taoufik Souami "How are energy choices made
in development projects?" This question, born out of curiosity, is also relevant to current concerns. Faced with the growing importance of environmental issues, particularly energy issues, in urban development, the world of urban planning is seeking to renew its methods. However, the implementation of such changes is hampered by a lack of understanding of the operational mechanics of development projects.
Our thesis is therefore based on understanding the mechanisms that drive development choices in French urban projects. More specifically, we focused on the scope of action of urban project management, which extends to the interface between the "strategic" orientations of planning and the "technical" choices of formal design. Moving away from the artificial division of tasks between project management and project supervision, we postulate that urban project management is responsible for a genuine design activity that takes several forms:
– participation in the development and updating of strategic guidelines and choices regarding the programming and composition of the development project;
– supervising project owner/project manager pairs in the construction of the various physical components (buildings, infrastructure, public spaces) of the urban space;
– developing and steering the mechanisms and processes for organizing collective action.
In this context, the thesis first proposes to empirically document the "black box" that still constitutes the activity of urban project management design. Based on an in-depth analysis of the energy choices made during the Bordeaux Euratlantique operation of national interest, the following questions will be addressed: What are the internal and external design scenarios in urban project management and how do they interact? What processes lead to the formulation and reformulation of development choices during the project? And what tools does urban project management use in its design activity?
To do this, we reconstruct, in narrative form, the main sequences of action that led to the definition of an energy and environmental strategy, the organization of energy considerations in the construction of the building, and the implementation of heating and cooling supply systems. Adopting a pragmatic approach, we combine interpretative frameworks from different disciplines (sociology of organizations and techniques, management sciences) to interpret each of these sequences of action, highlighting their political, cognitive, and productive dimensions.
A cross-disciplinary reading of the narrative then allows us to highlight the key role assigned to decision-making, understood as a mechanism for committing to and making collective action irreversible. Like quality, costs, and deadlines, decision-making can therefore be considered a macro-objective that guides project owners in their design activities. However, steering the design process by facilitating decision-making sometimes conflicts with the complexity of the socio-technical assemblies of urban construction, characterized by interdependencies that require the integrated treatment of certain interfaces. The thesis therefore concludes with a re-examination of the objectives of quality, cost, timeframe, and decision-making through the prism of a tension between the logic of "defining," guided by technical and economic performance, and the logic of "making happen," guided by operational effectiveness.
Thesis defense on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 Doctorate in spatial planning, Urban Planning
Doctoral school
: VTT – City, Transportation, and Territories
Thesis registration
: 2013
Composition of the jury:
Nadia Arab, university professor, University of Paris-Est, examiner
Gilles Debizet, senior lecturer, University of Grenoble-Alpes, examiner Laurent DEVISME, professor, Nantes National School of Architecture, rapporteur
Nicolas Ferrand, General Engineer of Bridges, Water and Forests, Olympic and Paralympic Equipment Delivery Company, professional examiner
Taoufik Souami, University Professor, University of Paris-Est, thesis supervisor Jodelle ZETLAOUI-LÉGER, Professor, École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris La Villette, rapporteur