Urban Planning & Participatory Democracy
OUR PROJECTS
URBAN PLANNING AND PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY:
ANALYZE USES AND STAKEHOLDER DYNAMICS, PERCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS, PROMOTE PARTICIPATION AND MOBILIZATION OF ALL AUDIENCES
Urban planning is a way to improve quality of life
Urban planning and participatory democracy can address social and economic challenges
A sustainable city cannot exist without those who inhabit and experience it
- Mobilize, unite, network, and support local stakeholders around a project.
- Identify points of vigilance and anticipate conflicts (strategies and stakeholder dynamics).
- Design and implement innovative and inclusive participatory mechanisms.
- Integrate the residents-territory link into project orientations.
- Reveal the user expertise of residents and stakeholders in co-production (rationalities, representations, uses, practices).
- Understand the socioeconomic conditions of residents and users.
- Identify the needs and expectations of local stakeholders, potential, obstacles, strengths, and levers.
- Training
URBAN PLANNING & SOCIAL IMPACTS – URBAN MOBILITY AND TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
AFD / Urbaconsulting
CAMEROON / 2024-2025
As part of the Urban Mobility and Transport Improvement Project (PMUS) and for a dozen strategic sites in the city of Yaoundé: production and development of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).
URBAN PLANNING & SOCIAL IMPACTS – MARKET CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
AFD / PARSA- Ministère de l’agriculture et de l’élevage
CONGO / 2024-2025
As part of the Agricultural Sector Recovery Support Project (PARSA), the construction of a logistics platform is planned on the Germain Bibimbou market site in the village of Nganga Lingolo. This construction will lead to temporary and permanent displacement of traders. In this context, PARSA and AFD requested support and informed advice to identify and categorize affected persons, define a release strategy, then resettlement on-site or compensation for permanently affected persons.
URBAN PLANNING & SOCIAL IMPACTS –AKASSATO–SÔ AVA ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
BÉNIN / 2024-2025
As part of the “Reinventing the Ganvié Lake City” Project: review, critical analysis, development of a corrective action plan, and support for upgrading the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).
URBAN PLANNING & PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY – ACTION RESEARCH FOR THE CO-CONSTRUCTION OF A COMMON GOOD
FRANCE (Paris, Ile de France) / 2024-2025
Assess mobilization, capacity building, evolution of social cohesion, and appropriation of the Shakirail third place by neighborhood residents.
URBAN PLANNING & PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY – FEASIBILITY STUDY ON A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HUB: THE CITIZEN CAFÉ
Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires (ANCT) / Ville de Montaud / Chaudronneries
FRANCE (Montaud, Hérault) / 2022-2024
Supported by ANCT under the “Territories of Engagement” program, the municipality of Montaud is reflecting on the future of the territory and citizen participation. A feasibility study was entrusted to the AnthropoLinks cooperative and the Chaudronneries of Montreuil. It aims to test the citizen café concept with resident participation and implement it if successful.
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY – PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CITIZEN FACTORY OF THE CITY OF MONTREUIL – ACT 1
Ville de Montreuil / Chaudronneries
FRANCE (Montreuil) / 2022-2024
Building on recent advances in participatory democracy, the Municipality of Montreuil is committed to animating a Citizen Factory. This initiative represents the city’s approach to participatory democracy, reconciling two participation movements: bottom-up and top-down. On one hand, it enables citizens to become co-producers of public policies alongside elected officials and services. On the other, it supports citizen initiatives for a critical and vibrant democracy. The assistance mission aims to support the city in defining the Citizen Factory.
URBAN PLANNING & SOCIAL IMPACTS – RESETTLEMENT ACTION PLAN FOR THE BRAZZAVILLE STORMWATER DRAINAGE PROGRAM
TEREA / AGRECO GEIE / CIRAD
REPUBLIC OF CONGO / 2022-2024
Brazzaville has many precarious neighborhoods with poor access to essential services. Each rainy season causes dramatic flooding and significant damage. Phase 2 of the Brazzaville stormwater drainage program aims to improve living conditions, particularly in precarious neighborhoods, by improving rainwater drainage and reducing flooding in five natural collectors. This mission involved producing a new Resettlement Action Plan (RAP), compliant with the requirements of the Client and AFD, based on available data, and supporting its implementation throughout the works.
URBAN PLANNING – DEVELOPMENT OF A SENSITIVE SOUND MAPPING OF THE TERRITORY
Conseil du Développement Durable du Grand Nancy / Collectif Vues d’Ici
FRANCE (Métropole du Grand Nancy) / 2019-2020
The Sustainable Development Council of Greater Nancy Metropolis aims to implement its sound framework, following the green, blue, black, brown, and transparent frameworks. Through an initial experiment, the goal was to collectively define the project’s final objectives, the methodology for qualifying soundscapes and cartographic representations, and to put the project into practice through collective listening exercises and mapping from an experimental space: Nancy city center.
URBAN PLANNING – COLLECTIVE PROJECT FOR THE REHABILITATION OF AN INDUSTRIAL BROWNFIELD
Ville de Brionne / EPF Normandie / CAUE (27) / Degré Zéro / Chaudronneries / J. Fournier
FRANCE (Brionne) / 2018-2019
Initially, this was an experimental approach to find new ways of designing and acting collectively with residents and all territorial stakeholders. The experiment focused on a collective project to reconvert the Delaporte/Siret brownfield, with the underlying objective of strengthening Brionne’s town center attractiveness and requalifying the entire municipal territory.
URBAN PLANNING & MEMORIES – USES, MEMORIES, PRACTICES OF THE GASTON ROULAUD NEIGHBORHOOD WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE NPNRU
Ville de Drancy / ANRU
FRANCE (Drancy) / 2018-2019
The prefiguration protocol for the neighborhood’s urban renewal project (dating from 2016) provides for major restructuring. The goal is to transform the Gaston Roulaud neighborhood into an area open to its surroundings, reinforcing its position as a city gateway, a dense and socially mixed residential district, a neighborhood offering functional diversity, a place where social ties are revitalized, and finally, a neighborhood aligned with sustainable development principles. This study aims both to enhance heritage and memory, create social connections, and highlight a collective history and shared space, resulting in tools for sharing and transmission (video, sound walk) accessible to all.
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY – INCLUSION IN CONSULTATION PROCESSES
Ouiville / Mairie d’Aubervilliers
FRANCE (Aubervilliers) / 2018
During the participatory democracy seminar organized by Aubervilliers City Hall, AnthropoLinks facilitated two participatory workshops for municipal executives. These sessions aimed to address the crucial issue of audience inclusion in consultation processes. In summary, the process involved sharing practices and representations, identifying and discussing constraints faced by each participant, and gathering expectations and needs from municipal staff. These exchanges also helped identify avenues for strengthening participatory democracy at the local level.
URBAN PLANNING – CO-PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOULIN NEUF (STAINS) AND POIRIERS (DUGNY) GATES
Département Seine-Saint-Denis / DRAC / Maison des Suds / collectif Tempête
FRANCE (Dugny – Stains) / 2018
Parc Georges Valbon is constantly evolving, driven by departmental works and proposed activity programs. As part of the 2016–2020 Parks Plan, the challenge was to consider possible service evolutions for the park. Ultimately, the goal was to meet changing uses and needs while addressing biodiversity protection issues. At the same time, the Moulin Neuf Gate (Stains) was undergoing renovation (2017–2019), aiming to create a wide, clear access route to the park center for residents and ease tensions between certain inhabitants and park management authorities.
URBAN WALK AT LA NOUE CLOS FRANÇAIS (MONTREUIL)
Chaudronneries de Montreuil
FRANCE (Montreuil) / 2017
Together, we worked to invent new ways of engaging with the city. We also sought to moderate the contradictory effects of public consultations by restoring meaning to the diversity of viewpoints. Moreover, we were committed to involving stakeholders and residents in their territory. In this context, an urban walk was organized, bringing together a variety of actors (residents, associations, neighborhood branches, representatives of Montreuil City and Est Ensemble). Ultimately, the goal was to co-produce a sensitive analysis of the La Noue Clos Français neighborhood based on diverse material collection.
URBAN PLANNING & PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY – SHARED DIAGNOSIS OF USES OF PARC GEORGES VALBON
Maison des Suds / Département Seine-Saint-Denis / DRAC / Parc Georges Valbon
FRANCE (Dugny – Stains) / 2017
As part of the Culture and Park program, we developed a strategy for inclusion, consultation, and participation of residents from priority neighborhoods in Stains and Dugny. This approach involved co-designing and facilitating consultation workshops. Additionally, we conducted a sociological study and a shared diagnosis with 56 different territorial actors to better understand park uses. These efforts were complemented by creating a sensitive map. Ultimately, this study provided a comprehensive and participatory vision of local dynamics.
URBAN PLANNING – PRACTICES AND PERCEPTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL HOUSING ENERGY RENOVATION, REBOUND EFFECTS
Association Régionale pour l’Habitat / CEREMA, la DREAL / Région Haut de France
FRANCE (Région Haut de France) / 2014-2016
This study was part of a program to combat energy poverty and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through lowering energy consumption. One flagship action was renovating 50,000 homes annually over the next 40 years, including 7,000 social housing units. In this context, we conducted a sociological survey to understand how tenants appropriated these new homes and the rebound effects observed. The study also identified barriers and levers for energy savings and behavioral changes in energy consumption following renovation projects.
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOP – CITY AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Association Sciences Technologies et Sociétés Nord-Pas-de Calais
FRANCE (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) / 2016
As part of the “Sciences Métisses in Hellemmes, Cities and Landscapes of Tomorrow” festival, we led a workshop for schoolchildren. The goal was to raise awareness of cultural diversity in cities and different urban lifestyles. To this end, we explored themes such as housing, transport, and mobility. Additionally, the project aimed to combat discrimination by fostering deeper and more respectful understanding of urban diversity.
URBAN PLANNING & SOCIAL IMPACTS – CONSULTATION AND SOCIOECONOMIC STUDY – IMPLEMENTATION OF AN URBAN PROJECT
Tenke Fungurume Mining
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC) / 2013
The project took place within the framework of a new city initiative designed to absorb population influx induced by mining activities. We initiated preliminary consultation and a socioeconomic study, including a property survey combined with a socioeconomic survey of the direct impact zone. Ultimately, this preliminary approach aimed to establish a solid basis for evaluating project implementation and identifying social challenges and potential obstacles.
CONSULTATION AND SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY – REQUALIFICATION OF AN URBAN BROWNFIELD
Sors de Terre / Mairie de Genevilliers
FRANCE (Genevilliers) / 2010
As part of the requalification of an abandoned space in the Grésillons neighborhood, we conducted a consultation process to actively involve residents in the design phase. This initiative identified forms of occupation and appropriation of a previously neglected site and gathered valuable insights to guide the design process.