Paradeise C, Lorrain D., Demazière D.
French
Sociology: Legacies and Perspectives 1960-2010
PUR, 2015, 656 p. (more…)
Coutard O., Rutherford J.
Beyond the Networked City. Infrastructure reconfigurations and urban change in the North and South
Routledge, 2015, 276 p. (more…)
Campagnac-Ascher E. (ed.)
The Knowledge Economy: A Metropolitan Dynamic?
Le Moniteur, 2015, 304 p. (more…)
Jeannot G., Coutard O.
Returning to public service?
La Documentation française, 2015, 150 p. (more…)
The research aims to study the restructuring of local public action in the post-revolutionary context in Tunisia, marked by the announcement of decentralization reforms strengthening the municipal level, but without any new official measures or renewal of local political personnel, and in a context of anticipation, particularly in view of the pressing challenges in the areas of unregulated housing and urban services.
Method
Field research: documentation, interviews, mapping
The primary objective of this research is to understand the characteristics and developments of the current functioning of the national housing system over a period of thirty-five years. The aim is to develop a longitudinal approach by using the "National Housing Surveys" (ENL) conducted by INSEE from 1978 to 2013 in a comprehensive and systemic approach. This approach aims to measure the impact of housing supply on the redistribution of urban populations, taking into account the characteristics of the housing stock, mobile households, stable households, and chain effects. The processes and their effects will be studied using the "Habitat Systems Analysis" (ASHA°) model.
The second objective of the research is to improve the model in terms of both its usability (ergonomics) and its predictive robustness. This will involve working on:
- ergonomics, in order to integrate new data output modes into the interface, visualizing simulations in the form of interactive graphs and tables suitable for comparative study,
- segment modeling to take into account population aging at each iteration during simulations,
- methodological developments to study the possibility of refining the model by reducing the "step" of each iteration during simulations.
- the algorithm in order to improve the robustness of the model, to carry out a detailed study of changes in the national housing system, using a comprehensive approach, with the ultimate goal of proposing a robust model capable of simulating possible changes, blockages, and transformations over the next two decades.
Method
This involves using the National Housing Surveys conducted between 1978 and 2013, which contain information on the occupancy of the housing stock, mobility between segments of the stock, and entries from outside France. This application will enable a longitudinal analysis of changes in the national housing system (1978, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2006, 2013). The ASHA model will enable simulations to be carried out that reproduce the system identified in each housing survey (4, 6, or 7 years) by introducing future construction and demolition (informed by subsequent housing surveys), in order to verify the validity of the results through a possible comparison between surveys. This method should make it possible to analyze the evolution of the system and identify its mechanisms and potential blockages ("the housing crisis").
with the collaboration of Lionel Cauchard
This exploratory study aims to report on the multiplicity and diversity of standardization stakeholders, both in general and specifically in the construction sector. The term "standardization" is used in a broad sense: it refers to those involved in developing standards, those responsible for certifying (products, processes, etc.) to these standards or benchmarks, and those responsible for accrediting certifiers. With reference to these three phases, we take into account the actors involved in standard-making, certification, and accreditation (NCA).
This research is based on a review of the international literature on standards and, with regard to the building sector, mainly on 18 interviews conducted with actors involved in standardization, certification, or accreditation.
First, we highlight, in relation to the extension of standardization in general, not one but two NCA sub-models, whose mechanisms are significantly different. Depending on the sectors concerned, but also on the regions of the world, the actors involved in standardization can be classified according to one or other of the sub-models outlined below.
NCA sub-model No. 1 largely concerns organic or sustainable agriculture. Actors from "civil society" (farmers, consumers, NGOs, etc.) work together to develop a standard designed to differentiate a particular product from its "common" equivalent (e.g., "organic" apples); and these promoters/advocates of the standard accredit "independent" or third-party certifiers to certify, or not, the conformity of products or production processes with the standard in question. In this first NCA sub-model, it is the promoters of the standard who organize relations with other standardization actors, inventing specific rules on a case-by-case basis. The success of these private initiatives is measured solely by market standards.
Sub-model NCA No. 2, on the other hand, concerns standards that aim to standardize the characteristics of a product or process (to guarantee consumer safety, for example) and, unlike the previous model, is promoted or supported by public authorities, particularly in Europe. In theory, at least, it promotes a strict separation between the activities of standard-setting, certification, and accreditation, with the latter function being performed on a cross-sectoral basis, country by country, but with mutual recognition agreements between countries, by a single, independent body.
The report describes the emergence of these two sub-models and outlines their differences in order to propose a framework for analyzing "standardization actors," particularly in the construction sector.
The building sector has several specific characteristics compared to the sectors mentioned above. First, standards are multiplying in this sector at three distinct but interconnected levels: construction products, which "circulate" on the markets; structures (the certification of "green" buildings); and, more recently, "sustainable" neighborhoods. Secondly, in addition to standards that qualify "objects," there are standards designed to regulate processes (construction standards) and to qualify organizations and even individuals (e.g., eco-responsible craftsmen). Finally, in this field more than in others, public authorities (regional, local, and especially national) support certain standards or certifications and are therefore important players in standardization.
The report reviews the three levels indicated, using the previous diagram between the two NCA sub-models. It concludes that the level of construction products, which was essentially governed at European level by the "New Approach to Technical Harmonization and Standardization" Directives and, more recently, by a European Regulation, falls under NCA sub-model No. 2, with a large and relatively unknown population of "certifiers" " (Notified Bodies), competing in markets organized by public authorities. He highlights the competition and controversies that are further stirring up the construction sector and proposes to report on them by comparing the respective "philosophies" and modes of legitimization of NCA sub-models No. 1 and 2: international competition between the French "HQE" standard, the British "BREEAM" standard, and the American "LEED" standard, and the methodological disputes between the promoters of each of these standards for the certification of "green" buildings can be analyzed using this duality. Finally, the report initiates a discussion on the emerging issue of "sustainable" neighborhoods from the perspective of the emergence of new standards.
In addition to the avenues for further research indicated throughout the report, its conclusion raises a more general question about the role of national public authorities in promoting standardization and certification.
Keywords: Standardization, Certification, Accreditation, Europe, sustainable development.
Method: Consultation of regulatory and technical documents. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with the main French players in standardization in the building sector.
The activities of the City Chair at École des Ponts ParisTech (2012-2014), in partnership with the French Development Agency, Suez Environnement, and GDF Suez, are structured around three main research programs and the coordination of corresponding international networks:
The formation of large cities with more than 5 million inhabitants and very large cities—XXL cities with more than 10 million inhabitants—is an entirely new phenomenon in history. These dense, built-up areas, which concentrate all resources like giant attractors and display extremes of opulence and poverty, raise questions for us in more ways than one.
Fields for the "Mediterranean Cities" program: Istanbul, Beirut, Cairo, Algiers, Barcelona, Rome
Large companies (public or private) are among the major players in the production and management of cities, but they remain little studied. Public policy trends and organizational sociology have primarily focused on the state and other public actors. Economists and their vision of optimal exchange through markets have tended to represent companies as "point" actors without depth. Our goal is to introduce studies on companies as a genre among others in the social sciences.
This involves working on "green" technologies and the implementation of a (positive) urban future that is beginning to take shape: the sustainable city. Since the 19th century, the development of cities has been inseparable from that of their technical networks. These networks have been organized based on a common model found in several technical systems and in all cities around the world, regardless of political regime or level of development: a single, reticulated network, organized as a monopoly and aimed at universal service. Will this organization be modified due to new technologies or pressure from the needs of emerging countries?
Fields for the "Green Cities" program (as part of the ongoing ANR SYRACUSE): Suzhou SIP, Singapore, Kawasaki, Windhoek, Delhi, Lima, Stockholm, Geneva, Rotterdam, Vancouver
The City Chair is also completing work on significant operations in the water sector: "What are the key players in the water sector doing?"
Website: http://www.enpc.fr/node/7931
With the participation of:
– François Gemenne, Climate Geopolitics: Negotiations, Strategies, Impacts, published by Armand Collin
– Agathe Euzen, What Solutions to Climate Change? published by CNRS
– Alice Bomboy, Unbreathable: How to Escape Suffocation, published by ARTE
Location: Book Fair
Catalina Duque and Sylvy Jagin wrote this article in Urban Research & Practice
Multidisciplinary study days addressing the issue of the internationalization of cities around four themes: visibility policies, migration, the role of economic actors, and environmental policies. Cross-disciplinary research will also be produced throughout the operation.
Keywords: Internationalization, city building, public policy, migration, climate change
Method: The project will be led by two researchers (O. Coutard and C. Lefèvre), who will be supported during the four study days by six researchers specializing in the selected themes, working as a scientific committee. The project will be launched with a cross-disciplinary seminar.
Hélène Subrémon
With the collaboration of Benoîte Decup-Pannier and Jerôme Huguet
Ambitious energy policies will be needed to achieve climate and energy targets (in particular, Factor 4 by 2050 and the Grenelle targets).
However, there is one obstacle to the development of ambitious energy policies: minimizing the impact on low-income households and those in energy poverty.
This requires knowledge and understanding of the situations, challenges, and implications for these households. However, the global challenges on which current policies are based do not allow for this. They most often establish categories that do not take into account the diversity of situations encountered by households.
We therefore need to change our perspective in order to understand the challenges of energy transition policies from the point of view of their recipients (a "bottom-up" approach), i.e., to "regionalize" the challenges and also the objectives of reducing energy consumption.
To this end, the project proposes to study low-income households in the Ile-de-France region, particularly in the department of Seine-et-Marne, and their energy use, with a twofold objective: scientific and operational for policy-making. This project will seek to understand how to design an ambitious regional/local energy policy that does not have a negative impact on those in energy poverty.
Keywords:
Energy transition, low-income households, Seine-et-Marne, vulnerabilities, energy poverty
Period
s:
July 25, 2012 to July 25, 2015 (MOVIDA funding)
December 16, 2011 to December 31, 2015 (PICRI funding)