HQE2R Diagnostics & Priorités

http://hqe2r.cstb.
fr
DELIVERABLE 8
Sustainable renovation of buildings

for sustainable neighbourhoods
Contract n° EVK4–CT–2000–00025
Setting priorities for

sustainable development
in 14 European
neighbourhoods
Synthesis of the shared sustainable
development diagnoses for
sustainable development
upon neighbourhoods
in 6 European countries
May 2003
Ove MORCK , CENERGIA

Celia ROBBINS, UWE
Catherine CHARLOT-VALDIEU, CSTB
HQE2R is a project co-financed by the European Commission within the

programme Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (‘City of
tomorrow’), which aim is to elaborate methods and tools destined to local
communities and their partners to help them in their urban renewal projects.
HQE²R
Contract n° EVK4 – CT – 2000 – 00025
Setting priorities for sustainable

development in 14 European
neighbourhoods
Synthesis of the shared sustainable development
diagnoses for sustainable development
upon neighbourhoods in 6 European countries
May 2003
Ove MORCK CENERGIA

E-mail: ocm@cenergia.dk
Celia ROBBINS UWE
E-mail: celia.robbins@uwe.ac.uk
Catherine CHARLOT – VALDIEU CSTB
E-mail: catherine.charlot-valdieu@cstb.fr
Under major contribution for the national parts by:

Daniela BELZITI CSTB
Philippe OUTREQUIN, Céline MULLIER LA CALADE
Antonella GROSSI, Matteo GUALANDI, Sandra MATTAROZZI ICIE
Daniela GABUTTI, Nicoletta ANCONA, Francesco CAPRINI QUASCO – COPRAT
Oriol CUSIDO, Xavier CASANOVAS CAATB
Noemí GRANADO, Albert CUCHI ITeC
Andreas BLUM, Holger MARTIN, Kerstin HECKER IOER
Ove MORCK, Dorthe SVENDSEN, CENERGIA – TUVALU
Anne Alstrup AVNBY Municipality of Frederiksberg
Martin SYMES, Celia ROBBINS UWE
HQE2R is a project co-financed by the European Commission within the programme Energy, Environment and
Sustainable Development (‘City of tomorrow’), which aim is to elaborate methods and tools destined to local
communities and their partners to help them in their urban renewal projects.
Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 2

Setting priorities for sustainable development in 14 European neighbourhoods (Deliverable 8) HQE²R
Memorandum: the HQE2R approach

and the findings of the project
“Je refuse l’idée qu’il y a d’un côté la lumière et de l’autre les ténèbres, l’homme et la
femme, moi et l’autre, le bien et le mal. Je cherche un lieu où ces contradictions puissent être
résolues. C’est une quête sans illusion »1 - Murale, Mahmoud Darwich, édition Actes Sud
The objectives of the HQE²R project
“Sustainable Renovation of Buildings for Sustainable Neighbourhoods” or HQE²R is a project

partly funded by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework R&D Programme.
The project started in September 2001 and will continue until the end of March 2004.
Co-ordinated by the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment), France, it
combines research and demonstration aspects with the co-operation of 10 European research
partners and demonstration partners (local authorities or social buildingowners) working upon
14 neighbourhoods2.
The objective of the project is to develop a new methodology or approach together with
the necessary methods and tools to promote sustainable development and the quality of
life at the urban neighbourhood level. HQE²R aims at providing decision aid tools for
municipalities and their local partners, focussing on neighbourhood inhabitants’ and users’
concerns. With its integrated approach, it aims at providing a framework, which can be
generally applied to European cities. The project uses case studies as neighbourhood models
for which the tools are elaborated and in which the approach or the different tools can be
tested.
The elements taken into account in the development of this approach towards sustainable
development and its tools are:
• Improvements in the quality of the buildings and non built elements, which are
closely linked with needs expressed by the actors concerned (users), especially as regard
improvements in comfort and reductions in the costs-in-use and maintenance of
residential and non-residential buildings (energy savings, reduced water consumption,
optimisation of the use of raw materials).
• Improvements in the quality of life through urban development, which respects the
environment: reduced urban sprawl, more effective use of public spaces, and the creation
of cycle-ways, pedestrian areas and green spaces. Developing coherence and synergy
between the neighbourhood levels and the conurbation. Encouraging work in partnership
and building the capacity of the local community to achieve meaningful participation.
• Controlling costs and applying management methods, which allow all categories of
actors to share expenses.
• Controlling urban sprawl and commuting by managing the economy and
environmental impact of space use and also by managing mobility and the use of public
transport at the scales of the neighbourhood, the town and the conurbation.
The aim of HQE2R project is thus to allow local authorities to implement regeneration
action plans in their neighbourhoods and renovation of their buildings towards
1
I refuse the idea that there is a side for the light and another one for the darkness, the man and the woman, me and the
others, the good and the bad ones. I look for a place where contradictions can be solved. That is a quest without illusion.
2
See the list of the partners in Appendix or at the end

sustainable development. It is a question of providing operational tools for a concrete

analysis and evaluation, which are open to public (and private) debate and to action.
The HQE2R approach and the expected project results
Today cities are being rebuilt, buildings are being rehabilitated, and neighbourhoods
revitalised. To assure sustainability, this regeneration must go beyond technical solutions,
taking social trends, changes in behaviour, environmental and economic development into
account.
To define concrete action plans, sustainable development requires an iterative way of
achieving a decision, because of the necessity of taking the various principles of sustainable
development into account all together at once. As the market law only takes into account
economic factors, and principally only in the short-term, sustainable development requires
sustainable development principles: the integration of the long-term, global impact of
decisions on environmental and social factors, with less hierarchical forms of participation
than usual market practices.
The HQE2R methodological framework for sustainable neighbourhood analysis and
development is structured as an ideal regeneration neighbourhood projects into 4 phases: a
decision phase, an analysis phase - identifying priorities, definition, discussion, an
assessment of scenarios phase and finally the setting up of the action plan for the
neighbourhood).
The methodological framework is furthermore based on 6 sustainable development principles
at the city scale, and then a system of 21 sustainable development targets under 5 main
objectives (see the list next page) and backed up by a set of 51 key issues with their 61
indicators for the neighbourhood and its buildings (ISDIS system).
THE HQE²R APPROACH TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1 : DECISION PHASE 2 : ANALYSIS
3. Inventory based on the

1. Identification of 2. Strategic decision 21 targets and the
problems (social, for sustainable integrated SD indicators
environmental, technical) regeneration of the system (ISDIS)
that need actions neighbourhood
4. Shared SD
diagnosis of the
neighbourhood
(potential,
12. Monitoring and
dysfunction,
evaluation of the
Participation of residents and users cohesion)
project : SD
monitoring Partnership (public / private)
indicators
Local Governance 5. Strategic
priorities for the
neighbourhood and
definition of
11. Projects upon objectives for SD
9. Urban planning
the neighbourhood regulations including
with SD SD recommendations
specifications
7. Evaluation of
6. Generation of
10. Projects for the scenarios
scenarios
Sustainable Buildings against SD
8. Action plan for (to identify options
(new & existing) with targets (INDI,
the neighbourhood for SD action)
SD specifications ENVI, ASCOT)
PHASE 4 : ACTION and EVALUATION PHASE 3 : DECIDING UPON THE ACTION PLAN
Source: HQE²R Project (http://hqe2r.cstb.fr) SD: Sustainable Development

The HQE2R project results are specific tools for local communities and for their local partners
(see also the diagram below):
- The choice of 6 sustainable development principles at the scale of the city and a definition
of sustainability for the neighbourhood scale.
- The definition of an overall methodological framework with 5 main global sustainable
development (SD) objectives, their 21 targets, 51 key issues or sub targets and then 61
indisputable indicators at the neighbourhood and building scales (the ISDIS system).
- A shared SD diagnosis method for SD (with an integrated analytical grid for the previous
inventory) adapted to the neighbourhood scale.
- Evaluation tools for scenarios or neighbourhood projects as decision aid tools for
assessing different scenarios before the final action plan for the neighbourhood is chosen (3
models with the support of 3 analytical grids):
3 models:
- INDI (INDicators Impacts) a model of sustainable regeneration impact using
indicators and allowing the development of different environmental and sustainable
development profiles
- ENVI (ENVironmental Impact)
- ASCOT (Assessment of Sustainable Construction & Technology Cost), a model
of global cost of energy efficient technologies from an environmental point of view at
the building scale.
- Recommendations for improving participation in neighbourhood regeneration projects.
- Recommendations for taking SD into account in urban planning documents (for each
partner country).
- Recommendations for specifying sustainable development in the building process
- Recommendations for specifying sustainable development for non built elements
- Indicators for the different phases of a project state indicators, pressure indicators and
then monitoring indicators.
RESULTS OF THE HQE²R PROJECT:
an approach with methods and tools
for sustainable neighbourhood regeneration
Definition of 6 SD Choice of 5 SD Development of a shared SD

principles at the objectives, 21 SD diagnosis method enabling the
city scale targets, 51 SD key identification of territorial SD
issues and indicators (at stakes*
the neighbourhood and
buildings scales): the
ISDIS system
Elaboration of Recommendations to improve

assessment and and to promote inhabitants’ and
monitoring indicators users’ participation:
for projects and
neighbourhoods, - to identify and collect their needs
regarding SD - to improve procedures and
practices
-Recommendations
for briefing Elaboration of decision aid tools
documents taking Recommendations to to evaluate scenarios or potential
into account SD for integrate SD in urban urban planning projects (“design
new and existing planning documents contract” for example)
buildings
- Recommendations
for non – built
elements SD Sustainable Development
Source: HQE2R project (http:hqe2r.cstb.fr) * See the scheme «The shared SD diagnosis method for setting priorities»

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 7
2. THE HQE²R METHODOLOGY 7
3. THE HQE²R NEIGHBOURHOODS

14 IN RELATION TO THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD TYPOLOGIES 11
4. SYNTHESIS OF SD PRIORITIES FOR THE 14 NEIGHBOURHOODS IN

RELATION TO NEIGHBOURHOOD TYPOLOGY AND LOCAL CONTEXT 14
5. SYNTHESIS OF ISSUES RAISED IN RELATION TO COMPLETING THE

INVENTORIES AND DIAGNOSES 24
6. SYNTHESIS OF THE SHARED SD DIAGNOSES FOR SETTING PRIORITIES

FOR 13 NEIGHBOURHOODS 27
Angers "La Roseraie" 28
Anzin "Centre Ville" 45
Cannes "Mimont-Prado-République" 55
Echirolles "Cité Viscose" 65
Cinisello Balsamo "Crocetta-Cornaggia" 88
Mantova "S. Leonardo" 98
Melegnano "CIPES" 109
Barcelona "Bon Pastor" 121
Manresa "Antic, Escodines,Vic-Remei" 130
Barcelona "Raval" 141
Dresden "Loebtau" 153
Frederiksberg "Lindevangskvarteret" 166
Bristol "Community at Heart" 171
APPENDIX 1: SYNTHETIC PRESENTATION OF THE HQE²R PROJECT 202
APPENDIX 2: UPDATED LIST OF THE 5 OBJECTIVES AND 21 TARGETS FOR

SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOODS AND BUILDINGS 204

1. Introduction
The methodology and tools developed within the HQE²R project3 are being applied in 14 European
neighbourhoods with two purposes. Firstly, to test and evaluate the methodology and tools and
thereby obtain experiences that can be used for further improvement. Secondly, the application is
intended as a necessary step toward the elaboration of an action plan in the neighbourhoods.
This deliverable deals with the first two analysis steps of the HQE²R methodology (see chapter 2)
are (1) gathering of basic information and getting to know the wishes and need of the inhabitants
and users of the neighbourhood (- the inventory) - and based on this to (2) develop an understanding
of the objectives and targets for a sustainable development of this particular neighbourhood and
thereby setting priorities (- the shared SD diagnosis).
The inventories and diagnoses for the 14 neighbourhoods of the HQE²R project have been worked
out in the national languages (Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and
Catalan). A synthesis of 13 of these diagnoses is presented in English in this document.
The 14 neighbourhoods represent five different neighbourhood typologies (e.g. inner city, inner
city- historical centre, former suburb, suburb and special areas to be rebuilt). An analysis of the
prioritisation of sustainable development targets with respect to the different typologies and the
local context is presented. This includes an overview of the sustainable development objectives in
the 14 neighbourhoods, the identified targets and stakes involved.
Also the problems encountered in the processes of compiling data, obtaining information about
users' wishes and needs, etc. for the inventory and of developing the diagnoses has been
documented by the HQE²R partners and a synthesis hereof is presented.
2. The HQE²R methodology

The objective of the HQE2R project is to allow local authorities to implement plans of action for the
renewal of their neighbourhoods and renovate their buildings in the light of sustainable
development. It is a question of providing tools for a concrete analysis and evaluation which are
open to public (and private) debate and to action. But to define concrete plans of action, sustainable
development requires an iterative way of achieving a decision, because of the necessity of taking
the various principles of sustainable development into account at one and the same time. As the law
of the market only takes account of economic factors, and principally only in the short-term,
sustainable development demands the integration of the long-term, global impact of decisions on
environmental and social factors, with less hierarchical forms of participation than the usual market
practices. The diagram overleaf illustrates the HQE²R methodology to be used by the municipalities
and their partners. This iterative way should, in return, allow major future economies of operation
as well as avoid negative external factors, both socially and environmentally.
A comprehensive presentation of the HQE²R methodology is given in another publication from the
project: “HQE2R Methodology for sustainable neighbourhood regeneration” (Deliverable 10).4
3
See Appendix 1 for further synthetic information on the aim of the project.
4
A synthesis is available on the web site (Newsletter n°2) and also in “Cahier HQE2R n°1 : “HQE²R - Towards a
methodology for sustainable neighbourhood regeneration” with the full version in French (HQE2R : une méthodologie
vers un aménagement urbain durable à l’échelle des bâtiments et des quartiers).

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB
Setting priorities for sustainable development in 14 European neighbourhoods (Deliverable 8)

THE HQE²R APPROACH TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1 : DECISION PHASE 2 : ANALYSIS
3. Inventory based on the

1. Identification of 2. Strategic decision 21 targets and the
problems (social, for sustainable integrated SD indicators
environmental, technical) regeneration of the system (ISDIS)
that need actions neighbourhood
4. Shared SD
diagnosis of the
8
neighbourhood
(potential,
12. Monitoring and
dysfunction,
evaluation of the
Participation of residents and users cohesion)
project : SD
monitoring Partnership (public / private)
indicators
Local Governance 5. Strategic
priorities for the
neighbourhood and
definition of
11. Projects upon objectives for SD
9. Urban planning
the neighbourhood regulations including
with SD SD recommendations
specifications
7. Evaluation of
6. Generation of
10. Projects for the scenarios
scenarios
Sustainable Buildings against SD
8. Action plan for (to identify options
(new & existing) with targets (INDI,
the neighbourhood for SD action)
SD specifications ENVI, ASCOT)
HQE²R
PHASE 4 : ACTION and EVALUATION PHASE 3 : DECIDING UPON THE ACTION PLAN
Source: HQE²R Project (http://hqe2r.cstb.fr) SD: Sustainable Development

In the following sections, we are going to present the basic steps of the global methodology
focusing on the expected results – an action plan – and going as far as recording full knowledge
about the neighbourhood and existing problems.
2.1 From the Inventory to the Diagnosis5

The diagnosis of the neighbourhood and of the built environment can only be conducted on the
basis of an overall review of the known or expected prospects and of an inventory of the
neighbourhood. This inventory and the known or expected prospects must concern both all the
aspects of sustainable development (economic, social and environment effectiveness) and include
items of information applicable to each sustainable development objective. For the HQE²R
methodology 5 objectives have been identified:
A. To improve the Diversity
B. To improve the Integration
C. To preserve and valorise Heritage
D. To improve the Quality of life
E. To reinforce Social link
The inventory must also be concerned with the different fields of analysis of the neighbourhood:
residential buildings, non residential buildings, non-built spaces, infrastructures and networks.
Combining the 5 objectives with these 4 different fields of analysis results in an analysis grid for
sustainable development. For this grid, 21 targets have been identified as listed in table 1 on next
page. This list is the one used for the realization of the first inventories. It has been progressively
improved while the HQE²R project has progressed and gained more experiences. That is the reason
why the references to these objectives and targets (titles, numbers, etc.) might be different in the
different parts and documents of this deliverable 8. The updated list of objectives and targets
adopted at the end of the test by all the project partners is presented in Appendix 2.
2.2 From the Diagnosis to the stakes and to local SD objectives

The neighbourhood diagnosis must thus be structured on the basis of overall sustainable
development objectives defined in a general way, but specifically adapted to the geographical scale
of the neighbourhood.
The definition of what is essential in the neighbourhood is achieved by establishing a diagnosis.

This diagnosis must analyse the prevailing situation in the neighbourhood as well as its prospects
for change in relation to sustainable development objectives. These SD objectives are global and
general and must be applied to all neighbourhoods. Then each city and neighbourhood must seek to
achieve these objectives in accordance with specific procedures for each population and their
economic, social, and environmental context.
The local objectives of sustainable development can be defined only after first knowing or
determining the stakes in the sustainable development of the neighbourhood. That is to say the
establishment of the problems to solve in the short, medium and long term.
The stakes are the key questions or the indisputable points that will lead the neighbourhood to
sustainable development or not. They are defined at a given moment with regards to the capacity of
the different stakeholders (inhabitants, local elected officials, municipal services, consultants...) to
conceive the future situation and to set an order of importance to the causes of the different
problems encountered.
5
See the cahier HQE2R n°2 about “The shared sustainable development diagnosis methodology” (in French) CSTB
publication.
Table 1: First list of the 5 objectives and 21 targets (obsolete to date6)

A - To improve the Diversity
1 – To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the population,
2 - To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the functions,
3 - To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the housing supply.
B - To improve the Integration

4 - To favour the accessibility of the population to all services and facilities of the city by means
of easy and non expensive transportation mode,
5 - To improve the integration of the neighbourhood in the city by creating life and meeting
places for all the inhabitants of the city,
6 – To avoid unwanted mobility and to improve the environmentally sound mobility
infrastructure.
C - To preserve and valorise Heritage

7 – To reduce Energy consumption and improve energy management,
8 – To improve Water resource management and quality,
9 – To avoid Land consumption and improve land management,
10 – To improve the consumption of Materials and their management,
11 – To preserve and valorise Patrimony (heritage),
12 – To preserve and valorise or value Landscape and visual comfort.
D – To improve Quality of life

13 - To increase the levels of education and job qualification,
14 – To improve housing supply,
15 - To improve cleanliness, hygiene and health,
16 - To improve safety and risk management,
17 - To improve air quality,
18 - To reduce noise pollution,
19 - To minimise waste.
E – To reinforce Social link

20 – To reinforce the social cohesion,
21 – To improve the solidarity networks.
2.3 Tools to support decision for the action plan

In order to define action plans for a neighbourhood in a sustainable way, methodological tools are
therefore required. The HQE2R project proposes three methodological tools to evaluate the different
proposals and to support decisions for action:
• an environmental impact model at the neighbourhood and buildings level (ENVI model),
• an economic model as a decision aid tool for choosing between renovation and demolition
(ASCOT model),
6
The updated list of objectives and targets adopted at the end of the test by all the project partners is presented in
Appendix 2.
• a model to evaluate the long term impact on the neighbourhood and building sustainability
of scenarios and planning projects, using indicators (INDI model).
These tools must ensure the coherence of the plans or strategies proposed with regard to sustainable
development objectives. To be clearly defined in the decision-making phase, the impact of these
plans or programmes, when applied to the different aspects of sustainable development must be
evaluated, in other words, how or in what way the plans and programmes, once they are
implemented, will enable the objectives of sustainable development to be fully or closely achieved.
2.4 Monitoring
To apply a procedure for sustainable neighbourhood development, one must define Sustainable
Development objectives for the neighbourhood. These local SD objectives must be set by the local
community, in accordance with joint consultation procedures which will have to be defined.
Such objectives can be expressed in terms of indicators and measured at intervals to show the
evolution of the neighbourhood in relation to the objectives (these are the monitoring or evaluation -
indicators).
3. The 14 HQE²R neighbourhoods in relation to the neighbourhood

typologies (by Ove Morck, Cenergia)
3.1 The typologies
For the purpose of the HQE²R-project 5 neighbourhood typologies have been identified. These 5
typologies constitute a framework for a somewhat rough characterisation of neighbourhoods.
However, as chosen this framework allows for an analysis of the 14 neighbourhoods with some
significance as to which typology they belong. For this relative small (14) sample a finer “resolu-
tion” of the typology grid would not have been of any added value. The 5 typologies are:
a) Inner City
Including the commercial and retail centre (city centre) and residential neighbourhoods adjacent to
it.
b) Inner City – historical centre

The historical centre of the inner city.
c) Former suburbs
Former suburbs are primarily residential neighbourhoods constructed as suburbs but now
surrounded by more recent developments (present suburbs). In some countries (e.g. Denmark) in
these neighbourhoods - from the early industrialisation age between World War 1 and 2 - small
local industries were often integrated with residential areas. This could also be areas now linking
the first suburbs with the present suburbs, which means that they are likely to be post WW2
constructions, now surrounded by areas from the seventies and later.
d) Suburbs
Neighbourhoods lying on the edge of the city, mainly private housing or “edge-of-city” public
housing estates.

e) Special areas to be rebuilt

"Harbour", industry (e.g. Vlissingen), railway and military land.
3.2 The 14 neighbourhoods
The 14 neighbourhoods that take part in the HQE²R project have been categorised according to the
above typology. This categorisation follows below.
Inner city (ic):

F1: Mimont – Prado – Republique – Cannes
UK: Bristol - Barton Hill
Inter city – historical centre (ich):

I2: Mantova – S. Leonardo
E1: Manresa – Antic, Escodines, Vic-Remei
E3: Barcelona – Raval / Ciutat Vella
Former suburb (fs):

D: Dresden - Loebtau
DK: Frederiksberg – Lindevangskvarteret
E2: Barcelona - Bon Pastor
F2 : Cite Viscose – Echirolles
F3 : La Roseraie – Angers
I3: Cinisello Balsamo – Crocetta-Cornaggia
Suburb (sub):
I1: Melegnano - CIPES
Special areas to be rebuilt (sar):

F4 : Centre Ville – Anzin
Ne: Vlissingen - Scheldeterrein
3.3 Prioritised targets
The prioritisation of the 21 sustainable development targets has been established for each of the
neighbourhoods. The prioritisation had 5 options:
tm=target met
1=highest priority
2=medium priority
3=low priority
“-“ = not of any priority for this neighbourhood
An overview of this prioritisation is presented in table 2 below.

Table 2: Overview of prioritisation of targets in the 14 HQE²R neighbourhoods7
Neighbourhoods: code F1 UK I2 E1 E3 F2 F3 D DK I3 E2 I1 F4 Ne
Sustainable Development targets typology ic ic ich ich ich fs fs fs fs fs fs sub sar sar
A - To improve the Diversity
1 – To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the population 2 - 1 tm 2 3 1 2 1 3 3 - 1 1
2 - To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the functions 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 3 3 2 2 1
3 - To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the housing
2 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 - 1 1
supply
B - To improve the Integration

4 - To favour the accessibility of the population to all
services and facilities of the city by means of easy and non 2 - 1 1 3 1 2 tm 3 1 1 1 1 2
expensive transportation mode
5 - To improve the integration of the neighbourhood in the
city by creating life and meeting places for all the 1 - 2 tm 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1
inhabitants of the city
6 – To avoid unwanted mobility and to improve the
2 - 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 3
environmentally sound mobility infrastructure
C - To preserve and valorise Heritage

7 – To reduce Energy consumption and improve energy
1 3 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 2 1 2 1 3
management
8 – To improve Water resource management and quality 3 - 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3
9 – To avoid Land consumption and improve land
2 - 1 3 3 1 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 3
management
10 – To improve the consumption of Materials and their
3 - 1 3 1 3 3 2 2 2 1 - 3 3
management
11 – To preserve and valorise Patrimony (heritage) 2 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 3 - - - 3 2
12 – To preserve and valorise or value Landscape and
3 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 - 3 2 2 2
visual comfort
D – To improve Quality of life

13 - To increase the levels of education and job
3 1 - 2 1 3 2 3 1 3 3 - 1 1
qualification
14 – To improve housing supply 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 tm - 1 1
15 - To improve cleanliness, hygiene and health 1 1 3 3 1 2 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 2
8
16 - To improve safety and risk management 1 1 3 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 2
17 - To improve air quality 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 - 3 1 2 1 3 3
18 - To reduce noise pollution 1 - 3 3 3 3 2 1 2 1 3 2 2 2
19 - To minimise waste 3 - 3 1 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 2
E – To reinforce Social link

20 – To reinforce the social cohesion 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 1 1
21 – To improve the solidarity networks 2 1 3 3 1 3 2 1 1 2 3 - 2 -
Same priority Priority difference = 1
7
This is done with the first list of objectives and targets (Table 1) and not with the final list (Appendix 1).
Some of these assessments have been completed by the research partners and are not the result of a shared diagnosis of the issues. This is
for example the case for UK and NL.
8
most important target
4. Synthesis of the SD priorities for the 14 neighbourhoods in relation

to neighbourhood typology and local context9
4.1 Inner city & inner city – historical centre (by Ove Morck)
The Mimont – Prado – Republique neighbourhood in Cannes (F) and Bristol - Barton Hill are the
only inner city neighbourhoods in the HQE²R project. However, if the inner cities with a historical
centre are included there are 3 more: S. Leonardo in Mantova (I), the old centre (Antic, Escodines
and Vic-Remei) of Manresa (E) and Raval/Ciutat Vella in Barcelona, E.
For these 5 inner city neighbourhoods the following targets have received highest priority: {1, 2, 4,
5, 7, 11}. The inner city is typically also the oldest part of a city. This is reflected in these targets as
they aim at improving the conditions for the population and thereby keep the population or attract
new residents. This is exemplified by the high priority of target 2: to maintain or reinforce the
diversity of the functions. What distinguish the inner city centres from the inner city centres with a
historical centre is that the Quality of life targets 14, 15, 16 all have highest priority for the former
(with Raval/Ciutat Vella) and low priority for the latter.
For the 3 neighbourhoods that are historical centres it is obviously of highest priority to preserve
and valorise patrimony (heritage), landscape and visual comfort (targets 11 & 12).
Of second priority for all the 5 inner city neighbourhoods is target 6: to avoid unwanted mobility
and to improve the environmentally sound mobility infrastructure. The targets that have received 3rd
priority are somewhat scattered.
4.1.1 Mimont-Prado- République, Cannes / France
Population of the city: 70.000 inhabitants.

Population in the neighbourhood: 7.147 inhabitants (1999).
It is a heterogeneous neighbourhood close to the city centre. A wide range of buildings (different
kinds and ages of family and collective buildings, some of them with an historical interest). A
strong barrier between the city centre and the neighbourhood (A railway covered by a "high traffic"
urban road).
Challenges: A very high vacancy rate: 16 % for the housings and more than 20 % for the shops. A
population in decrease: - 25 % since 1990 and concentration of people with an income lower than
the city average and / or of aged people.
Main Questions:
• To create and experiment a new procedure for the urban sustainable development at the
neighbourhood scale, by re-using and completing existing financing procedures for private
buildings renewal (OPAH which supports private housing rehabilitation works by national and
local subsidies) and retail shops / craft industries regeneration (FISAC which support the
improvement of retail shops attractiveness)10
• To define requirements for the built environment with a strong focus on the environmental
quality standards for the housing and building renewal
9
See the description of the neighbourhoods in the Newsletter n°1 available on the web site, and the deliverable 2
“Sustainable neighbourhood challenge” (July 2002) that deals with the work done by the cities of the project.
10
OPAH: Opération Programmée d’Amélioration de l’Habitat
FISAC: Fonds d’Intervention pour la Sauvegarde de l’Artisanat et du Commerce
• To define requirements for the public spaces and equipment
4.1.2 ”Community At Heart” - Bristol / England
*“Community at heart” comprising Barton Hill, Lawrence Hill, Redfield and the Dings
Population of the city: 400,000 approx. inhabitants
Population in the neighbourhood: 5,900 inhabitants
The neighbourhood lies less than 2km from Bristol City Centre, to the east. It is close to the City’s
main transport connections, but is cut off from the centre by the A4320 road. Housing is a
combination of pre 1919 terraces and 1960s tower blocks. There is some light industrial,
commercial and railway land. The neighbourhood suffers from multiple examples of social
exclusion including unemployment, low educational achievement, poor health, high crime and
drugs problems. As part of the UK Government’s ‘New Deal for Communities’ programme,
Community at Heart (CAH) has stated its vision as:
‘Our vision is to create a strong responsible community that has the ability to understand, engage
and overcome its problems enabling Barton Hill to build a safe environment that fulfils local needs,
inspires and provides opportunities for all.’
In 2000, CAH was awarded £50M by the UK Government. The money is to be spent over 10 years.
Challenges: The main challenges perceived by residents of the neighbourhood relate to crime and
safety, and the lack of youth services. These have a serious negative impact on the quality of life of
the area. These factors have not improved in recent years, although local partners are working to
address them. Environmental sustainability and the impact of the neighbourhood on global systems
is not a high priority in the neighbourhood, either for local people or for regeneration professionals.
It is part of the role of the HQE2R project to help to put these issues on the agenda.
Main strong points and weak points for neighbourhood sustainability:

The main strength of the neighbourhood is its very active community life. The regeneration process
within the neighbourhood is strengthening this, actively supporting and training people to become
involved in decision making and volunteering. A weak point of this activity is that it does not fully
reflect the ethnic and social diversity of the neighbourhood. This problem is recognised and is being
addressed. More community development needs to take place to ensure an ongoing contribution to
neighbourhood sustainability.
The neighbourhood generally has good access to services, although leisure facilities are poor and
the range of shops is limited. There are a variety of open spaces, although these are not all of good
quality, and are not used by all sections of the community. The isolation of the neighbourhood from
the rest of the city remains a problem, and the lack of transport projects within Community at Heart
is a weakness. Indicators show that residents have poor health relative to much of the city, a major
strength of the neighbourhood in the future will be the new ‘Healthy Living Centre’, which is
currently under construction. Housing quality throughout the neighbourhood is generally quite
good, with problems in the housing blocks being mainly social in nature. Community at Heart is
taking positive steps to improve housing quality and choice.
4.1.3 S. Leonardo-Porta Mulina, Mantova / Italy

Population in the neighbourhood: 2.076 inhabitants.

The S. Leonardo neighbourhood is located in the northern part of the historical centre, on the corner
formed by the superior and middle lakes surrounding the town; Porta Mulina gathers all the traffic
coming from north into the town.
Challenges: Improvement of the urban quality - To improve the communications system promoting
sustainable mobility. To control the environmental impact produced by traffic. To create a parking
resort to stop private traffic at the edge of the town. To improve pedestrian and cycling routes,
connecting the centre with the green resorts on the lakes and the extra-urban cycling tracks. Impro-
vement of social and cultural quality - To stop the population moving out and to improve the
quality of life. Preservation of architectonic and urban environment quality – To preserve the
architectonic and urban quality. To improve the environmental quality and the sustainability of built
space.
Main Questions:
• The age of the inhabitants is increasing, demanding more social assistance and better
connections to the public services.
• Population is moving out of the historical centre to the surroundings.
• Many buildings need renovation and urban infrastructures need to be improved.
• Mantova is surrounded by three lakes and three bridges connect the town with its northern and
eastern territories; all the traffic coming from north has to pass through the Porta Mulina knot.
• Commuters to downtown use more private means than public ones.
4.1.4 Antic/Escodines/Vic-Remei, Manresa /Spain

The zone of intervention is a part of the Old town of Manresa and includes three different
neighbourhoods (Antic, Escodines and the Vic-Remei) and is located in the south of city. The
centrality , the neighbourhood's history, and a Plan done - The Old Quarter's Recuperation Global
Plan (PIRNA) - are positives aspects for the neighbourhood.
Challenges: Urban quality: System of communications and the urban transport promoting the
sustainable mobility. To provide services and local equipment, and of commercial and property
activity. Promotion of Old quarter elements as factors of tourist interest and as agglutinative centre
of the whole city. Proportion adapted between public and private space. Social and cultural
quality: To provide of social and cultural basic equipment, promoting social participation and the
multicultural integration. To obtain a diversification of the population of the neighbourhood (in
revenue and ages), and to raise the level of instruction and improvement of the labour situations.
Architectonic environment quality: To increase the occupancy level of the housings with the
renovation and rehabilitation of the buildings, and the level of habitability.
Main Questions:
• How to increase diversity of the population age and origin.
• How to decrease concentration of social dysfunction and some aspects of marginality.
• Architectural - constructive Maintenance and renovation of the buildings and of the urban
environment of the neighbourhood.
• How to choose renovation or demolition. Creating Housing opportunities for young people.
• How to increase connectivity with basic road net-work of the city, and deficit of car-park.
• How to stop urban space and obsolete buildings degradation.
• How to increase small industries and activities in the old town.
4.1.5 Raval – Ciutat Vella, Barcelona / Spain
Population of the city: 1.505.944 inhabitants / 2001.

Population in the neighbourhood: 37.498 inhabitants (2,49 % of Barcelona) / 2001.
Raval is one of the neighbourhoods that constitute District I of the city of Barcelona - a very dense
and consolidated urban area. District I that gathers the oldest neighbourhoods of the city, called
Ciutat Vella (meaning ‘Old town’ in Catalan) and is located in the heart of it, perfectly defined by
the traces of the ancient wall built on the XIVth century. Raval is the more recent neighbourhood of
the district, developed as an extension of the ancient medieval city.
Challenges: Since the beginning of democracy in Spain (1979), the Town Council has done
enormous efforts to recover the neighbourhood and to integrate it to the city. To pull down ‘the
walls’ that separate socially the neighbourhood from the city. The operations done until now are
only a first step towards a successful regeneration. We have to check if these 'great works' (new
services, new public spaces…) define a good tendency towards a sustainable built environment.
These operations must be completed with 'small-scale' operations and other complementary efforts
taking into account social, economical and environmental aspects in order to obtain quality of life.
The central position of Raval is an important fact to consider as a strong point to improve the
‘integration’ of the neighbourhood in the city, a neighbourhood with a. high complexity of
functions, and a high commercial density. The operations done in the neighbourhood until the
moment succeed in that sense, opening a ‘closed’ area, making it more accessible for the citizens of
other parts of Barcelona and creating an important presence of urban scale facilities. The heritage
value of buildings and sets of buildings can be an added value for the neighbourhood.
Main Questions:
• To guarantee the social cohesion and the integration of foreign people to local life (34 % of the
population are from outside Europe).
• To maintain the complexity of the territory and to promote a diverse stock of housing (50 % of
housing units are smaller than 60 m²).
• To improve the economic development of the area avoiding a dangerous specialisation: tourism
(half of active population are workers).
• To improve the urban integration of the neighbourhood in the city (40 % of households are
composed of only one person).
• To discuss the degree of compactness in order to obtain a comfortable and functional built
environment (57% of dwellings are built before 1940).
• To enhance heritage, not only considering monuments, but the historical value of residential
ensembles and the public space.
4.2 Former suburbs and suburbs
For the 6 former suburbs highest priority have been given to the diversity and quality of the housing
supply (targets 3 & 14), to improve the integration of the neighbourhoods in the city (target 5) and
to reinforce the social cohesion. The high prioritisation of these targets can be logically explained
based on the age and nature of these neighbourhoods. It is important for these areas to still be part
of the city. Therefore also target 6 is important for these areas – to avoid unwanted mobility.
Generally the overall objectives of improving the integration (B, target 4, 5 & 6) and of improving
the diversity (A, targets 1, 2 &3) have high priority for the former suburbs. Of second highest
priority are the targets (20 & 21) of the objective to reinforce the social link (E). Of second and
third priority are targets 8, 10, and 19 – environmental issues.

In the CIPES neighbourhood in Melegnano the prioritisation of sustainable development targets

differ somewhat from the former suburbs. High priority is here given to targets that relates to the
objectives of improving integration (B) and improving the quality of life (D). Second priority has
the diversity of the functions (2) and the targets relating to the objective to preserve and valorise
heritage (C) – the environmental targets 7, 9 & 12. Third comes the targets of objective E – to
reinforce the social link.
4.2.1 Loebtau, Dresden / Germany
Population of the city: 470000 inhabitants (still slightly decreasing).

Population in the neighbourhood: 2500 inhabitants (slightly increasing).
Dresden Loebtau is a former workers quarter about 1 km west of the city centre but separated by
large railroad and industrial brownfield sites. The positive aspects of the neighbourhood are:
• area attractive from the outside
• economically priced rents
• good connections by public and private transport
• no prefabricated buildings
• basic infrastructure available
Whereas the negative aspects of the neighbourhood are:
• many derelict sites
• few and too intensively used green spaces
• great street noise
• dangerous and unattractive main streets (especially for kids)
• no cultural infrastructure
• no retail for medium and long-term demand
Challenges: Buildings are already restored / refurbished to a large extend (70%) but the surroun-
ding and urban (semi-)public spaces are still very unattractive (abandoned large and small industry,
brownfields ...): Residential vacancy is up to 25%. Most of the inhabitants moved in during the last
years - so no identification, no real neighbourhood(s). Demand is too low for self-sustaining local
economic development. Main Challenge: Turn the successful building renovation into successful -
sustainable - neighbour-hood development.
Main Questions
• How to increase Identification (Projects, locations ...)
• How to come to a better image; attraction of diverse user-groups.
• Reorganise traffic structures (too much traffic, bad road conditions (noise!), (partly) unattractive
connections for pedestrians / cyclists
• Creating Housing opportunities and (semi-)public space for different user-groups
• Environmental performance of already renovated buildings? (what is left to do behind the
shining facades?)
• How to support economical development (attraction, opening up ...) interconnection of the
neighbourhood(s) to the city of Dresden (spatial boundaries on the edge of the area) (re)use of
abandoned economic / industrial structures

4.2.2 Lindevangen, Frederiksberg / Denmark

The municipality of Frederiksberg has appointed the Lindevang area in the western part of the
municipality as a special area for development. The area has about 1500 dwellings. Most of the
dwellings are owned by housing associations and rented to the tenants. The flats are very small and
many are without bathrooms and with old kitchens.
Challenges: The biggest problems in the area are the old and out of date buildings, the inhabitants
have no "local" feeling for the neighbourhood and there are no cultural activities. The municipality
has decided to focus on this area and to carry out several activities in the Lindevang area, among
these are building renovation, town ecological activities, upgrading of the local environment, social
and cultural activities. These activities will be carried out as a part of the general urban renewal
support scheme concerning a holistic and green renovation. A local Agenda 21 plan for the area has
been made and a so-called green guide has been employed, who shall assist in the renovation and
the implementation of social and cultural activities.
Main Questions:
• The overall aim is to upgrade the area and make the dwellings more attractive to the tenants.
• A second aim is to improve the social climate in the neighbourhood and make it a safe and
sustainable area.
4.2.3 Bon Pastor, Barcelona / Spain
Population of the city: 1.503.451 inhabitants.

Bon Pastor is a polygon, with a singular urban grid that has allowed the maintenance of the street as
a community and coexistence space, built at the end of the last 20s. Located in the north of the city.
Belonged to the Sant Andreu's district (135.137 inhabitants).
Challenges: Urban quality: Integration of Bon Pastor inside Sant Andreu's district.
Communications and the urban transport (the sustainable mobility). To provide of services and local
equipments. Valorisation of the quarter through the city. Social and cultural quality: To provide of
social and cultural basic equipments, promoting social participation and the multicultural
integration. Diversification of the population of the neighbourhood (in revenue and ages).
Architectonic and urban environment quality: Saving systems (energy and water) and decrease
of the CO² emissions. To choose materials and constructive solutions for an environmental quality.
Environmental and architectonic quality in housings (comfort parameters).
Main Questions:
• How to increase diversity of the population age.
• How to improve the street drainage net which causes great difficulties for the drainage, damp
and insanitary conditions to the houses.
• Quality of the constructive systems and the installations of buildings.
• Creating Housing opportunities for young people.
• How to increase connectivity, essentially with the city centre, and integration with the rest of the
quarters of the district.
• How to improve the commercial equipment partly due to the lack of available locals regarding
their location in the quarter.

4.2.4 Viscose, Echirolles / France
Population of the city: 34.000 inhabitants

Population of the neighbourhood: 921 inhabitants (the smallest neighbourhood in HQE2R)
The neighbourhood is located in the west of the city, along the motorway and the Drac river.
Challenges: To define and implement SD indicators to assess and pilot the actions implemented in
the neighbourhood. This indicators system should be extended to the whole West sector of the city
in order to be used in the URBAN 2 Programme. Then it could be extended to all the sectors
concerned by the “Grand Projet de Ville” (GPV) in the “Grenoble metropole” area (conurbation).
Main Questions:
• the balance between the green spaces, the road patterns, the built space and the public and
private spaces
• the increase of the urban mix
• the integration of the neighbourhood in the city and the metropole (conurbation) by
environmentally sound mobility infrastructure.
4.2.5 La Roseraie, Angers / France

7.900 housings units among which 4.500 social housings units, 1.300 rental private housing units
and 2.000 owners occupants. An impoverished population
Challenges: La Roseraie is a key neighbourhood for Angers: it's the second most populated
neighbourhood of the city (the first one is the city centre); this neighbourhood is a major target for
social and housing policy in the “Politique de la Ville 2000 - 2006” (contract signed by the City and
the State to implement actions in the social field of housing and public space management). The
project can help the City of Angers managers and town councillors to integrate sustainable
development into the urban renewal policy of La Roseraie and then in all the municipality actions.
The project has four main aims:

• To define the main stakes from the neighbourhood sustainable development diagnosis, and to
improve sustainable development practices into all the municipal services;
• To assess the neighbourhood's urban renewal projects from the sustainable development
viewpoint;
• To define a “sustainable neighbourhood management chart and guidelines”, and to choose
sustainable development indicators for monitoring the action plan;
• To improve residents' participation.
Main Questions:
• To improve social links and local community memberships
• To design the neighbourhood entrances
• To build a neighbourhood centre with retail shops, social services and public utilities
• To improve housing conditions and urban design by construction and demolition
• To improve the urban environment by changing urban structure (public spaces, streets and
walkways, buildings).
This project requires to change land ownership: now, the non-built area is only the City of Angers's
property, and social owners want to own the opened spaces around their buildings.

4.2.6 Crocetta-Cornaggia, Cinisello Balsamo / Italy

The territory of Cinisello Balsamo, which is a town situated in the northern part of the Milan
hinterland, appears today as a dense urban environment, not very homogeneous and crossed by
several infrastructure barriers.
Challenges: Improvement of the urban quality - To improve the local public transport system
towards a sustainable mobility. To rehabilitate open air spaces and in particularly the areas resulting
from laying the highways underground. To improve the accessibility to public services.
Improvement of social and cultural quality - To improve citizen safety. To promote citizen
participation in public matters and in particular in the problems about the growth and the
development of the city. To increase cultural opportunities and entertainment. Improvement of
architectonic and urban environment quality - To define a sustainable plan with particular reference
to design, construction and rehabilitation of public and private open air spaces. To improve
environment quality.
Main Questions:
• Problems connected to lack of integration.
• Low standard and aesthetic quality of the building. Low architectural construction quality.
• Poor connectivity between the studied areas.
• Deficit of car parking.
• Lack of green areas.
• Lack of accessibility and articulated system of green areas and public facilities.
• Dense urban environment too high, not much homogenous and crossed by strong infrastructure
barriers.
4.2.7 Cipes, Melegnano / Italy
The city of Melegnano is situated in a flat area, between the southern periphery of the industrial
Milano area and the mostly agricultural territory around Lodi. The Cipes neighbourhood is the
smallest by number of people (1.375 inhabitants, which represent approximately the 8,6% of the
population of Melegnano), at the same time it is the biggest by the extent of the area. Cipes includes
the parts of the town developed west of the Milano-Bologna railway line, which can be considered a
strong barrier between the historical nucleus of Melegnano and the Cipes quarter. The north-west
and south-east limits of it, coinciding with the communal borders, are represented by regional and
national main roads. The south-western limit is constituted by a wide portion of agricultural
territory that leads right into the South Milano Park. The high speed railway lines and the highway
Milano-Bologna both cross the neighbourhood. Most of the apartment buildings present in the
neighbourhood were built between 1973 and 1988.
Challenges: To integrate the different forms of public transportation: railway and bus. To decrease
and slow down the vehicular traffic in the residential areas. To decrease the acoustic pollution in
Viale della Repubblica. To rehabilitate the ex chemical industrial zone "Saronio". To integrate
Melegnano land into the South Milano Park. To improve social and cultural quality. To promote
citizens participation to public affairs, especially to those questions dealing with the growth and the
development of the city. To improve job opportunities. To renovate the built areas around the
railway and the new parking area (part of ex chemical industrial zone). To promote new sustainable

development rules for planning, construction and rehabilitation of all areas. To improve
environmental quality in prevention and reclaiming of polluted areas.
Main questions:
• To establish new activities in the neighbourhood.
• Ex industrial polluted areas
• Presence of degraded buildings near the railway.
• High level of acoustic and atmospheric pollution
• Environmental problems as consequence of the industrial activity
• Urban environment crossed by strong infra-structural barriers
• Lack of public transportation, especially between Melegnano and Milano, and high use of cars.
4.3 Special areas to be rebuilt
Of high priority in these areas, which will try to attract residents, are the targets that immediately
can be appreciated by potential residents. That is: the diversity targets (1-3), the social life targets
(20-21) and to some degree the quality of life targets (13-19). Also for these areas it is important to
assure the integration with the rest of the city (targets 4-6), whereas naturally, the preservation and
valorisation of heritage is of lower priority.
4.3.1 Centre Ville, Anzin / France
Population of the city: 14,000 inhabitants

Population of the neighbourhood: 10 000 inhabitants
City centre, close to the Valenciennes conurbation, Anzin is a former industrial and mining city of
the Valenciennes urban area. The city suffers from great social and economic problems and has
brown fields to re-use. The city wants to regenerate and to extend the town centre by re-using
brown fields.
Challenges: The objectives and list of targets has later been modified as the HQE²R project has
progressed and more experiences gained. Through this key project, the municipality wants to
change the Anzin image and to attract new population and economical activities. The future
tramway station is a real opportunity for the success of this project. The municipality wants this
project to be the first step toward the Anzin sustainability. The three dimensions of the SD are
included in the project: all the new buildings will be erected with a high environmental quality
requirement, and the social dimension is always present in Anzin by the high unemployment rate,
the low level of income and the high number of people suffering of health troubles.
Main questions:
• To promote the economic activities in the town centre
• To improve the "social mix" by attracting middle-class households and more active people in
Anzin - To improve the built environment by demolition and construction (re-use of wastelands)
and by rehabilitation of the existing buildings
• To attract more people and new commercial activities in the town centre
• To involve the population in the project
• To offer jobs for the Anzin residents through the public work procurements and the new
economical activities

4.3.2 De Schelde, Vlissingen / The Netherland

Population in the neighbourhood: no inhabitants.
De Schelde (Scheldeterrein) is an old industrial area (Shipyard) situated in the centre of the City
Challenges: To develop a complete new sustainable neighbourhood (44. ha) in the central heart of
the city, making the city attractive, liveable and competitive. To make, as much as possible, use of
the existing situation (retrofitting) and maintain the cultural heritage (old Dockyard, Berlage-
building and first concrete construction in the Netherlands). To define the main stakes from the
district sustainable development diagnosis, and to improve sustainable development practices into
all the municipal services.
Main Questions:
• How to integrate the area in a harmonious way within the existing city?
• How to design a new attractive city centre and to maintain the cultural heritage?
• How to strengthen the economic position of the city and stop the decline?
• How to introduce environmental issues, how to define a Zero-starting point and how to
investigate for possible ground pollutions?
• How to preserve the cultural heritage and re-use the existing buildings (total 153 buildings to re-
use or demolish)?
• What functions to develop (living, offices, services, shops and the like)?
• How to finance and how to programme?
• How to attract tourism?

5. Synthesis of issues raised in relation to completing the inventories

and diagnoses (by Celia Robins, with contribution from all the partners)
5.1 Introduction
This section draws out some of the main issues relating to the methodology and data collection for
the inventories, diagnoses and indicators used for the SD diagnoses. The partners experienced
numerous problems with individual aspects of the data collection; this section does not attempt to
list all of these, but to give examples of the types of problems experienced.
5.2 Methodology for the inventories
The inventories were completed in partnership with local partners, in particular the
municipalities. Several of the HQE²R teams undertook a lot of co-ordination work in collecting data
from different municipal services (in particular planning, environment and technical departments),
and from outside agencies. In some cases, for example Mantova, the team worked with a single
contact point, who co-ordinated data collection within the municipality and from other agencies;
this was a more efficient arrangement, but more difficult for improving participation.... The research
teams also sourced data independently, from the internet and from public documents.
A problem experienced by many of the research teams was that municipalities do not always have a
unit dedicated to the collation of local data, nor an effective GIS (Geographical Information
System). This means that collecting sustainability data, which covers many different topics, requires
a significant amount of effort, especially at the first beginning.
In Germany, the case study is a designated redevelopment area, for which supplemental data are
collected. There is a similar situation in the UK, where the case study is part of a major regeneration
programme, which generates its own sets of data. This gives an advantage, but could perhaps
prevent direct comparison with other neighbourhoods that are not part of the same regeneration or
redevelopment scheme.
5.3 Building towards a full inventory: the discretionary nature of the inventory and diagnosis
methodology
At the present time it is to be expected that few of the neighbourhood inventories will be complete.
The neighbourhood inventories and indicator sets are to some extent aspirational and forward-
looking; they set an agenda that municipalities can work towards. An important principle of the
inventory, diagnosis and indicator methodology is that all aspects of sustainable development are
recognised as equally important. Each element should thus be considered for each locality, if certain
data are not available (but are considered relevant to the locality), it is a function of the inventory
and diagnosis to highlight the need for the data to be made available in the future.
Another aspect of the discretionary nature of the inventory (and the use of the indicators) comes in
assessing the cost-benefit ratio of gathering certain data. There may be some types of data that it
would be possible, but costly in terms of time or money, to collect and calculate according to the
neighbourhood boundary. In such cases, the team carrying out the inventory should use their local
knowledge and judgement to decide whether these data should be pursued, or omitted from the
inventory. Based on local knowledge and contact with residents, this decision should be based upon
whether the data reflects an issue that is of central importance to the neighbourhood or not.

5.4 Definition of issues and indicators11
Defining the meaning of each aspect of the inventory and the meaning and measurement of each
indicator was a major challenge to the HQE²R partners. It is inevitable that the interpretation and
relevance of different issues will vary from country to country. Likewise, different systems of
administration and regulation mean that many of the indicators have to be tailored to each country.
One example is indicator 2a, which was defined (for France) as the number of retail trade licenses.
In both Denmark and the UK, the majority of retailers are not licensed, so the indicator
measurement or way of collecting this data must be redefined. The partners have taken a pragmatic
approach to this type of problem. Indicator 2a may simply be redefined as the number of retail
premises, as its intention is to show how many shops are available to local people.
It was noted that several of the indicators relating to services do not allow for qualitative differences
between, for example different types of food shops or sports facilities. This observation highlights
the need to accompany the indicators with a commentary describing the local context. A similar
observation might be made in relation to the numbers of social and cultural events and activities
taking place in the neighbourhood.
There are qualitative concepts or indicators, such as ‘visual comfort’, which were not defined in
detail in the HQE2R methodology for the test upon the shared SD diagnosis. These indicators need
more explanation and, for some of them, the implementation of indicators relating to these will
require definition of the concept for each locality. This is perhaps appropriate, as the transfer of
qualitative standards across very different neighbourhoods is problematic.
5.5 Problems with boundaries
It is difficult to collect a wide range of socio-economic and environmental data for any sub-division
of a city. The different organisations serving a city frequently have different boundaries, and collect
their data accordingly. This problem applies across Europe, although the situation is unique in each
country, depending on the structure of local governance.
It is made more complex by the fact that areas selected for regeneration do not usually coincide
with any administrative boundaries. The focus of HQE2R is on neighbourhood regeneration, most
of the case studies being for areas that are smaller than the administrative sub-divisions of their
cities. For many fields of data, working towards a neighbourhood inventory will require finding a
‘best fit’ deriving data from larger administrative sub-divisions.
5.6 Issues relating to quantitative data
For the local level, it is particularly difficult to find environmental data, as in most member states
environmental monitoring has not traditionally been a responsibility of local government. It is thus
a valuable, although difficult, role of HQE2R to attempt to collate this data for the neighbourhood
scale.
Several case studies were unable to calculate energy and water consumption levels for different
buildings. In France it was noted that building managers are concerned more with energy cost than
with consumption. In the UK, the privatised energy market is served by numerous providers,
making data collection extremely problematic. In Denmark, it is not possible to make the distinction
between domestic and commercial water consumption.
11
See the Cahier HQE2R n°3 about indicators as well as the Cahier n°1 (in English and French) about the overall
HQE2R methodology
It was noted by the French case studies that analysing census data for small areas is less statistically
reliable than for larger areas, because the entire population is not polled for all census questions.
Recency is a particular problem with census data. In many countries a full census is carried out
every 10 years. Major changes such as migration and changes in the property market can occur in
between censuses. In Spain, particular problems were noted because social data collected by the
municipality and the state census were updated at different times.
The Spanish case studies found that it was most difficult to find neighbourhood-level data relating
to the HQE2R targets of improving diversity, quality of life and safeguarding heritage. The Spanish
partners also noted that data are not collected on the materials in the construction of new or existing
buildings, and that these could only be analysed in a general way for common building types.
In Italy, particular difficulties were encountered locating data on energy consumption, recycling of
building materials, health and participation.
5.7 Views and opinions of local residents
Finding out local residents’ views about their neighbourhood is a central part of the inventory. In
the majority of case studies, HQE²R researchers held meetings with local community groups and
representatives. This is a useful approach, although every effort should be made to ensure that the
views of different groups within the community are heard. It should not be assumed that a single
group or representative reflects the views of the entire community.
5.7.1 Why a shared diagnosis? Experience from some countries
The way of working underlines the link between the shared SD diagnosis which is the second
phase of the HQE2R methodology (cf. schema p.5) and its first phase which deals with the
collection of needs and wishes from residents and users…:
• In Germany, the researchers were able to make use of an annual survey of local opinion carried
out by the municipality. The researchers (mainly sociologists…) also undertook a series of five
in-depth interviews to gain qualitative information on life in the neighbourhood. These were
held with a range of individuals living or working in the area, including a priest, a youth worker
and a shop owner.
• In the UK, the researchers benefited from surveys carried out by the regeneration programme
active in the area. The UK researchers also carried out their own qualitative research into local
feelings about sustainability issues. This involved training five Bristol residents in participatory
consultation techniques, who then conducted 18 different sessions around the neighbourhood,
holding discussions (some short, some in more depth) with around 85 residents.
• The Italian partners working in Cinisello Balsamo and in Mantova carried out a series of
structured interviews with people knowledgeable about the neighbourhood, including local
priests and shop-keepers. The researchers also conducted a ‘walk-through’ the neighbourhood,
during which they interviewed local people. In Mantova, the researchers also interviewed
representatives of the Local Agenda 21 topic groups.
Targets or indicators 20a and 21a for example can only be fully satisfied by conducting surveys of
residents to find out levels of community activity. In most neighbourhoods, this will not be done
routinely, and it would often be impractical to commission special research. An impression of
community activity might be gained by talking to local groups, or by interviewing a small number
of individuals. If this is done, the limitations of such an approach should be recognised, and the data
presented as being qualitative.
The generic approach used for the diagnoses was to discuss the inventory findings with local
partners. In Cinisello Balsamo and Mantova, these findings, including local residents’ views, in
some cases conflicted with the vision and programmes of the municipality. This fact demonstrates
the value of the inventory exercise, in that it may have raised issues not previously seen as
important by the local council. The diagnosis thus became a negotiation between the different local
interests, with some issues remaining unresolved.
5.8 Recommendation
It is necessary to recognise that a comprehensive fully similar approach to inventory, diagnosis and
indicators cannot be fully consistent throughout different member states. The HQE2R approach
requires that a comprehensive range of issues should be recognised and given careful consideration.
The shared SD diagnosis methodology is a framework which has to be adapted to the local context:
culture, participation already in use, data available, …
At the end of this test phase, the HQE2R partners could finalise the list of SD objectives and targets
for buildings and neighbourhoods, as well as the list of the indicators which were selected as
indisputable for establishing the profile of a neighbourhood in regard to sustainability.
These different aspects will be presented during the whole life of the projects on the web site as
well as in different newsletters and brochures (Cahiers HQE2R for example) announced on the web
site:
http://hqe2r.cstb.fr or http://hq2er.cstb.fr
6. Synthesis of the shared SD diagnoses for setting priorities for 13

neighbourhoods
The inventories and diagnoses have been made in native languages for the 14 neighbourhoods of
the HQE²R project (Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Catalan). But
only 13 syntheses of these diagnoses are presented in English in the following pages.
The following syntheses have been built on the course of the elaboration of the diagnostic method
and of the HQE²R methodology (the 5 objectives and 21 targets for example). Thus, they are neither
applications of the method nor examples of best practice. Indeed, these syntheses refer to
intermediate versions of the diagnostic method and of the HQE²R methodology (which is the case
for example for the name and the order of the SD objectives and targets).
If syntheses had to be presented in conformity to the method described in this document, they
would have been structured according to the 21 targets and not according to the elements of the
neighbourhood. Indeed, presenting by SD target allows to avoid repetitions and to better structure
the analysis, it means to highlight the link between the final diagnosis and the SD stakes, and
sustainable development.

HQE2R
Contract n° EVKA – CT – 2000 - 00025
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"LA ROSERAIE" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of ANGERS
for a sustainable development
CSTB – La Calade
Catherine Charlot-Valdieu CSTB
Philippe Outrequin La Calade
Céline Mullier La Calade
HQE²R is a combined research and demonstration project which is partly funded under the "Energy, Environment and Sustainable
Development" programme, Key Action 4, "City of Tomorrow & Cultural Heritage", within the Fifth Framework Programme of the
European Union
CSTB - LA CALADE 28
CONTENTS
SCOPE OF THE S.D. DIAGNOSIS..................................................................................... 30
1. THE CITY OF ANGERS URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT............................... 31
2. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CHARACTERISTICS ....................................................... 32

2.1. Population 32
2.2. Housing 33
2.3. Equipment and services 34
2.4. Economic activity 34
2.5. Parks and gardens 34
2.6. Roads and traffic 35
2.7. Polarity, attraction 35
2.8. Space management 36
2.9. Environment 36
2.10. Social life 36
3. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD POTENTIAL (STRONG POINTS) .................................. 37

3.1. Residences and residents 37
3.2. Non-residential built-up spaces 37
3.3. Non-built-up spaces and users 37
3.4. Infrastructures (networks and mobility) and users 37
4. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD MALFUNCTIONS (PROBLEMS OR WEAK POINTS)38

5. THE MAIN STAKES FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ............................................... 39

5.1. Renovation of deteriorated buildings 39
5.2. Managing the public space/private space interfaces 40
5.3. Developing public spaces 40
5.4. Redeveloping the Jean Vilar cultural centre as a community centre 40
5.5. Stimulating economic development 41
6. UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS ......................................................................................... 41
CSTB - LA CALADE 29
Scope of the S.D. diagnosis
This diagnosis concerns the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood, which is a social residential

neighbourhood, corresponding to the La Roseraie priority development zone (ZUP ou “Zone
Urbaine Prioritaire”). The various statistics concerning the population and housing, mentioned
throughout this diagnosis, are taken from the INSEE 1999 RGP 12 and the « census » analysis
conducted by the Angers regional urban planning Agency (l’Agence d’Urbanisme de la Région
Angevine - AURA). The diagnosis sector corresponding to the Definition Contract Specifications
for the Urban Development Project covers an area of 251 hectares. It comprises the overall
project, completed as part of the ZUP operation (between 1959 and 1979) and covering an area of
85 hectares, a ring of single family private housing to the South, and the « Chapeau de
Gendarme » shopping centre to the North13.
Much of the data contained in the diagnosis is taken from a preliminary inventory and diagnosis
conducted by the CERUR14 for Angers City, and attached to the Definition Contract Specifications.
Perimeter of ZUP (priority

development zone)
Perimeter of urban
development operation
(ORU)
Perimeter of "La Roseraie /
Orgemont" neighbourhood
La Roseraie neighbourhood and its surroundings
12
« Recensement Genéral de la Population » , i.e. General Inventory about Population
13
See « Definition Contract Specifications », p. 5 (2.2 Scope of diagnosis)
14
Urban-social survey of the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood, within the context of the City Contract – Diagnostic and
proposals report – CERUR/AURES, January 2000
CSTB - LA CALADE 30
The « La Roseraie » neighbourhood:

- Population 17 000 inhabitants in 1999 (11% of the population of Angers),
- 7 900 accommodation units (houses and apartments), including 4 500 council « low rent »
units, 2 000 owners and 1 300 private sector tenants.
1. The City of Angers urban development project

The city urban development project was essentially initiated during the preliminary surveys
conducted prior to the definition of the Overall Plan and the revision of the Land Use Plan, between
1994 and 1998, based on three main principles:
o the central city defines the identity of the overall urban area,
o the city links and unites the various neighbourhoods, confirming the neighbourhood
and proximity centres, by valorising the existing assets, facilitating local travel and
parking, favouring local employment (actually within the city), encouraging and
diversifying residence, and by favouring and directing land improvements,
o the neighbourhoods should change and renew the city, so that the entire population
becomes part of this mosaic of different ways of life and living habits.
This development project will be implemented as part of the traffic urban development plan
(PDU 15 ), the city contract, Local Agenda 21 and, obviously, within the individual urban
development projects, such as that of « La Roseraie ».
A new City Contract 16 was signed on 21st April 2000, with the objective of enhanced city
solidarity through education, culture, medical care, housing and employment, a « citizens’ city »
though exchange and partnership, a « nicer city to live in », through better integration of the
various neighbourhoods. Four geographical sectors are concerned, including the « La Roseraie »
neighbourhood.
The City of Angers has adopted a long-term strategy for sustainable development, which will lead
to the definition of a Local Agenda 21. This Local Agenda 21 presents an action plan, broken down
into 40 sections, the objective of which, for the poorer neighbourhoods, is:
• Environmental: to improve the image and the environment, and to renovate the
housing and the public spaces, parks and gardens, etc,
• Economic: to create jobs and to encourage the installation of activities, to develop an
economy that benefits all,
• Social and governance: to rebuild social links, to encourage better integration of the
poorer and/or non-integrated population, to develop the consultation and
involvement of the population.
The « La Roseraie » urban renewal project

The City has defined a number of objectives for the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood, within the
context of the new City Contract:
- To build a social link, in which the urban structure will only be one component element,
- To redesign the neighbourhood entry points,
- To considerably develop a central activity point in the neighbourhood (around the
Churchill/Jean XXIII road junction, with a large-scale public transport terminus project),
- To improve urban mix, with the installation of new economic activities,
15
Plan de Déplacements Urbains, PDU
16
Contrat de Ville
CSTB - LA CALADE 31
- To reinforce social integration, notably by the demolition of the lower class housing, and the
building of a « higher class » of housing,
- To redefine the urban structure,
- To requalify plots, with one facade on the public road and one on an interior space, created
and managed by the residents.
2. The neighbourhood characteristics

The « La Roseraie » neighbourhood is located on the right bank of the Maine, to the North of the
Loire, on the projecting land at the confluence of the two rivers. This strip of natural space that
separates it from the Maine remains undeveloped and houses a large military zone and other
activities that do not enhance the status of the neighbourhood (waste treatment plant, firing range,
home for lost animals, etc.).
To the South and South-East, around the boundary of the neighbourhood, there are a few
allotments. Only one of these, the smallest, is public, but is only open to those renting an allotment.
To the South and South-West of the neighbourhood, there is also some private agricultural land and
a few private gardens.
Thus, the natural assets of the neighbourhood are of a remarkable quality, the river banks also
provide a few picturesque curves and, on the other bank, the « Lac de Maine » provides a landscape
opening to the West. However, this environment is significantly diminished by the military land, the
« Route de Bouchemaine » and the railway, which constitute real physical boundaries, making
this area inaccessible….
To the North of the neighbourhood, the line of boulevards, which are both major city entry/exit
routes, directly connected to the motorway, and also a ring-road, forms a pollution generating
boundary (noise pollution, air pollution, security).
Parallel to this line of boulevards, the neighbourhood is then crossed successively, from East to
West, by the Avenue Jean XXIII and the boulevard R. d'Abrissel, which also carry considerable
road traffic.
2.1 Population
The neighbourhood surveyed is particularly large, with almost 17 000 residents 17 , representing
11.2% of the total population of the city of Angers. The neighbourhood also has a considerable
active population (48% of the population is active), but this figure includes a high proportion of
unemployed (18%, i.e. 8.7% of the population).
The unemployment level is continually rising and, in 1998, 7% of the population received the
minimum insertion allowance (RMI18), against a 5% city average. Also in 1998, the single parent
allowance (A.P.I. 19 ) was allocated to 1.2% of the families. Conversely, 17.4% of the total
population of the « La Roseraie » - Orgemont neighbourhood was entitled to the housing allowance,
and this figure is below the city average which, at that time, was 20%20.
17
Source INSEE
18
RMI, Revenu Minimum d’Insertion
19
Allocation Parent Isolé, A.P.I.
20
Source: Steering Group Report of 15th June 1999 « Social and urban neighbourhood development – La Roseraie »
CSTB - LA CALADE 32
Between 1990 and 1999, the population of the city of Angers rose by 10 000, but that of the
neighbourhood fell by 2 440. This drop of 12.6% in the population is mainly due to the separation
of family households (2.51 persons per household in 1990, falling to 2.25 persons in 1999)21.
Between 1990 and 1999, there was also an increase in the « pockets of poverty » among the
various social populations. In addition, there are increasing numbers of « vulnerable » households,
notably among the newer residents. These are mainly looked after by « Angers Habitat » and « Val
de Loire », and are mostly in the North-Western sectors of the neighbourhood.
Education
A significant proportion of the children attending the neighbourhood schools are in difficulty at
school (in the first year of secondary education, in the Jean Vilar college, 30% of the children are in
a situation of major difficulty)22. The younger residents of the neighbourhood are mostly going into
the lower level training streams (level V) and very few of them obtain their Baccalaureat
school leaving qualification.
A local education contract was urgently implemented during the summer of 1999, and the
neighbourhood has been qualified as a priority education zone (ZEP23) since 1999. The contract is
aimed at favouring the coordination of neighbourhood initiatives24.
2.2 Housing
There are 7 900 household residences in the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood (11% of the city total),
including 4 359 council social residences, which makes it the third largest collective residence
neighbourhood in the greater Angers area, representing 19.2% of Anger’s social accommodation.
Management of the social collective housing is shared between five social owners. This council
accommodation is concentrated in the centre of the neighbourhood (around Place Jean XXIII) and
constitutes a significant contrast with the outside environment and with the local privately owned
houses. The private accommodation is mainly to the South of the ZUP and comprises more than
1 500 private houses and flats, i.e. 9.6% of the Angers private sector housing. The social
accommodation is of the traditional type, typical of that built during the ‘sixties, with a format that
differs significantly in relation to its immediate environment.
The social accommodation has not been renewed for the last fifteen years (only 15 new units
were built between 1990 and 1999), and 82% of the neighbourhood housing were built between
1959 and 1978.
The proportion of unoccupied accommodation is also increasing, and vacancy has more than
doubled over the last ten years, rising from 3.5% in 1990 to 8% in 1999.
Quality of accommodation
The social housing is basically a series of high-rise, low-rise and other buildings, typical of that
period of construction25. According to the managing authorities, the various buildings have fairly
different histories, and some have recently been renovated. In general, the living space is enhanced
by the presence of vegetation and open spaces.
21
City of Angers, the La Roseraie neighbourhood, urban renovation project, specifications, page 7
22
AURA data
23
ZEP : Zone d’Education Prioritaire (priority education zone)
24
The C.A.J.V., the Square Dumont d’Urville residents’ association (supported by the C.A.F. 24 ), the 20/20
association, the Confédération Syndicale des familles (families’ association) and the APTIRA propose various forms of
educational support for primary and secondary pupils.
25
CERUR diagnostic (p.111 & 118)
CSTB - LA CALADE 33
However, for some of the buildings, the condition of the facades (break-up of the concrete
assemblies, old renovation, chipped tiles, cracks, etc.) and the breakdown in the terrace
weatherproofing, convey an impression of abandon. Furthermore, the poor quality of both the
acoustic and thermal insulation generates many related problems and disagreeable situations.
Conversely, the frequent presence of lifts and balconies is much appreciated by the tenants. In
general, the social housing suffers from the inherent characteristics of large complexes with,
however, the basic minimum level of comfort always being provided (toilets and shower or bath
inside the flat, together with a heating system).26.
2.3 Equipment and services
There are a considerable number of public and social services, and educational and sports
facilities in the neighbourhood.
However, there are very few cultural facilities, in spite of the long-standing and emblematic
presence of the Jean Vilar centre, and even fewer religious facilities.
2.4 Economic Activity
Most of the local shops are around the Place Jean XXIII, together with some of the major public
facilities (Town Hall Annex, Police, CAF27, crèche), and the market is also held there on Saturday
morning. The neighbourhood28 also contains a few small local shops and a large number of doctors’
surgeries.
Close to the ZUP, the « Chapeau de Gendarme » shopping centre is one of the five main shopping
centres in the greater Angers area29. The centre houses several restaurants, which are the only ones
in the neighbourhood. Similarly, the neighbouring Orgemont business zone is one of the three main
service company zones in the greater Angers area30.
Around the periphery, the Post Sorting Centre, the Post Administration offices, the Firing Range,
the « Les Brunelières » Waste Treatment plant, the lost animals home31 and the UIOM.32, adjacent to
the Square Dumont d’Urville, are community facilities but they do not contribute to the
development of a positive and attractive image for the neighbourhood.
The agricultural land at the Southern end of the neighbourhood is a sector of dynamic activity33 but
is not involved in the life of the neighbourhood.
2.5 Parks and gardens
The way in which the parks and gardens are looked after varies considerably between the social
housing, the private housing and the business activity zones, and the same is true of the urban
furniture. The management of the parks and gardens sometimes causes problems. The gardens
26
CERUR diagnostic
27
C.A.F., Caisse d’Allocations Familiales, Family financial Helps administration centre
28
See: List of activities present in the neighbourhood (in appendix)
29
Source: Anjou Atlas/Economic Development Committee/Angers University, 1999.
30
Source: Anjou Atlas/Economic Development Committee/Angers University, 1999.
31
Société Protectrice des Animaux (society for the prevention of cruelty to animals)
32
Household waste treatment plant
33
A large show of Anjou vegetable production is currently being held in the Parc de la Villette, in Paris. It is organised
in cooperation with the Angers region market gardeners and is called « The greenhouse, growing vegetables
differently ». The show is built around the concept of sustainable, integrated, reasoned and biological agriculture.
CSTB - LA CALADE 34
around the buildings are insufficiently looked after, and are not really fulfilling their function in the
qualification of the space.
In the neighbourhood, only one small park is well looked after. However, the « Plaine de Jeux »,
adjacent to the Marcel Pagnol school, and the games park in the « Place du Maréchal Juin » are
much appreciated as green leisure areas. In addition, the Avenue Winston Churchill has a central
mall with trees, but few people go there as the access is made difficult by the road traffic.
The family gardens34, close to the neighbourhood, are mainly used by social housing residents.
The many green spaces are not being used to form part of the urban structure. There is no
consistency, continuity, complementarity or link between the various structures.
The development of the paths dedicated to non-motorised traffic, parks, family gardens and
natural spaces lacks coordination and is not part of a « green corridor » continuity logic.
2.6 Roads and traffic

Generally, the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood does not suffer from accessibility problems. It is
easily accessible from the Paris-Nantes motorway, and from the railway station and its access to the
high-speed train. Furthermore, the future installation of the TCSP35 line (Belle-Beille / Roseraie)
will improve access from other neighbourhoods of the city. However, at present, there is no
equipment to promote a combination of private car / public transport.
The urban environment is of fairly poor quality on the ring-road avenues, which carry considerable
road traffic: noise, poor air quality, no safe crossings, so that these roads represent real boundaries.
The road layout options give priority to the road traffic. Furthermore, there are many cul-de-sac
configurations, and also excessive widths, which generate an impression of isolation of the city.
There are few paths dedicated to non-motorised transport (cycles, rollers, pedestrians, etc.), they are
not very attractive, suffer from a lack of route continuity and are not safe. The cycle paths included
in the Urban Development Plan (PDU) are peripheral and do not allow safe travel within the
neighbourhood. Finally, no particular action was noticed favouring accessibility for elderly or
handicapped persons.
Urban marking panels, the marking of the various spaces, together with urban furniture, are all
virtually non-existent. Most of the ground is tarmac covered, making it impermeable (thus making
rain water management difficult) and almost entirely dedicated to the automobile (traffic and
parking).
2.7 Polarity, attraction
The morphology of the buildings alone constitutes a real break between the ZUP and the other sub-
neighbourhoods, and also between the neighbourhood and the rest of the city.
The ring-roads, the railway and the military land also constitute physical barriers between the
neighbourhood and the city, and prevent the residents from taking advantage of excellent natural
spaces.
There is little and insufficient leisure and cultural equipment, and it does not constitute centres of
attraction at city level. In the past, the Jean Vilar centre attracted many young people from other
towns and neighbourhoods, but it now seems to have lost its power of attraction.
34
The Jardin des Opanes (4 100 m2, 46 plots), Jardin des Trois Paroisses (25 943 m2, 93 plots), Jardin de l’Appentis (13
776 m2, 52 plots), Jardin de Saint Gemmes (23 700 m2, 64 plots)
35
Clean site public transport
CSTB - LA CALADE 35
2.8 Space management
When the ZUP (priority urban development zone) was created, the land was entirely managed by
the public authority, but has since been transferred to the social housing management organisations
(except for the roads), without any clearly defined management methods for the building
surroundings.
The city has virtually no land reserve, apart from the land released on the site of the former Claude
Bernard school, and two unbuilt commercial plots.
2.9 Environment
Management of resources
The assessment did not provide any specific resources management data.
Concerning power, the zone is heated by town heating, fed by the waste incineration plant.
Within the urban area, water consumption is higher than the national average (230 l of drinking
water per day and per person), but no specific data is available for the neighbourhood.
Finally, Angers has adopted selective household rubbish collection, and the greater Angers area
valorises green waste.
Quality of the environment
The private agricultural and wooded zones to the South of the neighbourhood could provide
excellent spaces. Similarly, the land at the confluence of the Maine and the Loire (which is one of
the 135 sites representing an ecological, wildlife and floral interest identified in the Anjou region)
could be a space that could be attached to the neighbourhood36.
2.10 Social life
Active associations, working for a balanced development of the living environment, have
significantly mobilised the social housing residents. This mobilisation has become a way of life for
the residents, and offers considerable potential, but is insufficiently considered in the decision-
making processes and local politics.
The library (the only cultural establishment in the neighbourhood) and a few not very flexible
association buildings are insufficient to meet the demand for social activity and meeting places37.
Many problems currently existing within the neighbourhood are the direct result of this
« shortage ». The residents would like to have and manage spaces such as « community halls » or
« Internet cafés », etc.
The Communication workshop, the Square d’Urville Reading/Writing workshop (a newspaper is
produced by the young people of the neighbourhood) and the Hip-hop workshop, offered by the
C.A.J.V.38 and which forms the core of the « urban » cultures, propose certain cultural activities.
The Carnival is an annual celebration that mobilises a large proportion of the neighbourhood
population. The C.A.J.V. team have also developed a teenagers sector (preparation of evening
entertainment, shows, camps, outings, carnival, etc.). A market is held on Saturday mornings, on the
Place Jean Vilar, but the neighbourhood residents regret its seemingly inevitable decline.
36
This humid zone, related to the alluvial zone covered by the Maine river, is listed as a protected site for its landscape
qualities and is inventoried within the context of the « Nature 2000 network ».
37
Source: Writing exercise books
38
Jean Vilar Activities Centre
CSTB - LA CALADE 36
In January 2000, there were around 50 associations 39 : equipment management, « locality »,

specific, insertion (the CLIPS40, the Neighbourhood group and the « Bridge » insertion association),
trade unions, community, project groups, youth and people’s education movements.
Social life in the neighbourhood
Only a few uncivil acts occur in the neighbourhood and most complaints concern problems
related to housing promiscuity41.
The town planning applied to the collective and private house residences (which are clearly
separated with no complementarity) discourages the creation of social links between their respective
populations. In La Roseraie, socialising zones are developing around the lifts, the building or the
block, and living in a given group of buildings means belonging to a specific group or social
status42.
3. The neighbourhood potential (strong points)

The potential or strong points are presented in a summary by field analysed:
3.1 Residences and residents
The « La Roseraie » - Orgemont neighbourhood, considered overall, with the adjacent

neighbourhoods and zones, comprises diverse urban structures, but the centre has a considerable
offer of multi families housing, and mainly social housing.
The landscape quality enhances the overall quality of the neighbourhood living environment. The
residents have a positive image of the quality of their housing.
Within the buildings and the blocks, there are good neighbourly relations and no major problems.
The social housing residents have a tradition of much association activity.
3.2 Non-residential built-up spaces
The Chapeau de Gendarme is a major shopping centre that complicates the future of the Jean
XXIII shopping centre and effectively prevents any commercial development elsewhere.
The adjacent Orgemont activity zone is also a major activities centre.
There are many public and social services and sports installations in the neighbourhood.
3.3 Non-built-up spaces and users
The non-built-up spaces are the subject of an urban development plan, due to the poor quality of
their utilisation, and thus represent a considerable potential to be valorised.
Furthermore, the land is virtually entirely controlled by the social organisations. Three plots
available to the North-West of the neighbourhood, and that of the former Cl. Bernard school, are
currently the only « developable spaces » or municipal land reserves.
3.4 Infrastructures (networks and Mobility) and users
Roads are omnipresent throughout the neighbourhood and in the adjacent zones with, notably, the
presence of a motorway network. However, the area is well covered by public transport, thus
allowing possible mode transfers, mainly directed towards the city centre.
39
CERUR diagnostic, pp 27 to 29
40
CLIPS, Centre ou Carrefour Local pour l’Insertion Professionnelle et Sociale
41
Source: CERUR diagnostic, p.55
42
CERUR diagnostic, p.107
CSTB - LA CALADE 37
4. The neighbourhood malfunctions (problems or weak points)

Malfunctions or problems are also presented in a summary by field analysed:
The social housing is not being renewed, its exterior appearance is deteriorating in certain blocks,
and it suffers from the inherent characteristics of major complexes (poor quality of initial
construction, poor acoustic and thermal insulation, no sequential management of the transition
between private and public space, entrances and common parts of poor quality and not looked
after). The lack of attraction of both the housing and the neighbourhood (the living environment
(installations, quality levels and space qualification) offered by the neighbourhood doesn’t seem
very attractive for young adults) has resulted in increasing numbers of unoccupied flats.
Thus, the « vulnerable » section of the neighbourhood population is increasing considerably,
making the economic and cultural development of the zone more difficult.
Furthermore, the neighbourhood has no common residential and associative spaces that could by
used by the residents.
Finally, most of the population is very limited in terms of access to both education and jobs.
Following a period of strong cultural development around the Jean Vilar centre, the neighbourhood
now has very few cultural and leisure installations, which only very partially correspond to the
needs of the neighbourhood residents and do not represent centres of attraction in relation to
the city.
There are also shops vacant, and a Jean XXIII shopping centre and weekly market that are not very
attractive and suffer from the competition of the nearby Chapeau de Gendarme.
The neighbourhood also has very few small trade and craft companies and jobs.
The association activity has considerable potential, but is insufficiently considered in the
decision-making processes and local politics. The institutional methods to be adopted for dialogue
between the various neighbourhood groups involved (residents, users, businesses and municipal
departments) remain to be defined.
The lack of spaces for associations, activities and socialising (unattractive block centres, unsafe
footpaths, few and unsuitable association buildings, etc.) is a problem.
The neighbourhood has no historic buildings but has considerable natural potential, that is
insufficiently valorised. The many green spaces are not being used to enhance the urban structure.
There is no uniting factor, continuity, complementarity or link between the various structures.
CSTB - LA CALADE 38
Paths dedicated to non-motorised transport, parks, family gardens and natural spaces are
uncoordinated, and their is no logical continuity, such as a « green corridor », for example.
Management of the building surrounds vary, depending on the organisation concerned, and the
general quality is inconsistent.
Within the social housing zone, most of the ground is impermeabilised and most is also tarmac
covered and used by vehicles (traffic and parking). This causes problems for intelligent and
optimum management of rain water.
The « cul de sac » configuration of the road network and the excessive width of the public space
generate an impression of isolation. The urban furniture, the space marking and urban signs in
the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood are « poor ». The configuration of the accesses to the
apartments prevents any permeability and makes it difficult to appreciate the space.
Finally, the agricultural land and the adjacent natural spaces are « isolated » from the life of the
neighbourhood (geographically, socially and economically).
The various transport systems offer no efficient intermodal connections. Furthermore, the ring-
roads, the railway and the military land form real geographical barriers between the
neighbourhood and the city, and prevent the residents from taking advantage of excellent natural
spaces.
The urban atmosphere quality is fairly poor on the ring-roads which carry considerable motor
traffic (safety, air quality, noise, etc.).
Paths dedicated to non-motorised traffic do not provide continuous routes, and no particular
safety actions have been implemented. No action has been taken to enhance accessibility for
elderly or handicapped persons.
Furthermore, water consumption and pollution release into the environment are not controlled.
5. The main stakes for the neighbourhood

The present survey reveals five main stakes for the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood:
- To renovate the deteriorated buildings
- To manage the interfaces between public space and private space
- To develop the public spaces
- To redevelop the Jean Vilar cultural centre as a community centre
- To stimulate economic development
5.1 Renovation of deteriorated buildings
In the centre of the social housing sector, the Angers Habitat43 zone is extremely deteriorated. It
would therefore seem of prime importance to continue the building renovation action in this sector,
within the context of the HQE (High Environmental Quality) approach, possibly even going as far
as construction – demolition operations.
It would also seem desirable to define the need for a diversification of the housing supply, to offer
accommodation that corresponds to the needs of the various populations and household
configurations (single-parent families with a non-continuous presence of children, young people
only living partially at home, elderly persons, handicapped persons, etc.).
43
Social owner
CSTB - LA CALADE 39
This approach could be completed by an analysis of the possibilities of change in the usage of the
building ground floors (entrances).
5.2 Managing the public space / private space interfaces
The objective is to preserve the « privacy » required for the neighbourhood to be able to « belong »
to its residents. The assets should be managed, and valorisation in terms of both landscaping and
neighbourhood image would create a clear identity.
Actions could therefore be based on enhancing the status of the spaces around the buildings, the
upkeep of which is sometimes the subject of dispute.
The block centres, with spaces that are poorly defined and often neglected, should be taken over by
the residents. These spaces should thus become sharable and actually shared, meeting spaces and
places of friendly activity.
Building access configurations could thus be part of a more general consideration of the
morphological, physical or simply visual interfaces that should be created between the various
blocks.
The configurations and routing continuity of the paths reserved for non-motorised transport should
also correspond to the residents’ actual usage.
Consideration of the development of these interfaces should thus address the problems of urban
furniture, indicator panels and space markings, and also the excessive width of the public space.
5.3 Developing public spaces
The neighbourhood should be reorganised by creating a community/activity centre and the

necessary structuring routes.
The possible creation of a new clean public transport line should make it possible to define a real
centre for the neighbourhood. In fact, public equipment is spread across the neighbourhood and
needs to be more clearly defined.
The centres of activity formed by the Jean Vilar centre, the Jean XXIII centre and the Chapeau de
Gendarme shopping centre could be structured around a real central core, at the confluence of the
flows that they generate, and also within a logic aimed at attaching the neighbourhood to the rest of
the city.
At present, in the centre of the neighbourhood, most of the free public spaces are tarmac covered
and used by vehicles. It would seem wise to « permeabilise » some of this ground, to allow a more
rational management of rain water. The natural spaces are a major neighbourhood asset, and should
thus be preserved, valorised, managed and rationally developed, based on local history, thus
promoting a general interest.
The « cul de sac » configuration of part of the road network should be redesigned, and the urban
environment should be improved, notably by noise control.
Improvements in the paths dedicated to non-motorised transport, parks, family gardens and natural
spaces could thus be coordinated within a continuity logic, in the form of a « green corridor ». They
should also provide transit links between the various zones, and improve access to services,
installations and shops.
5.4 Redeveloping the Jean Vilar cultural centre as a community centre
A centre of identity and attraction should be created, which would meet the needs of young people,
and those of the neighbourhood residents, concerning the management of spaces for meeting,
friendly activities and neighbourhood life. The shortage of cultural installations should also be
CSTB - LA CALADE 40
addressed, and equipment should match the volume of the requirement, for a neighbourhood with
17 000 residents.
This centre could be developed, based on the local association activities, and on its potential in
terms of the residents’ management of their own common spaces (see local Agenda 21).
5.5 Stimulating economic development
The diversification commercial, economic and tertiary activity should be promoted, in both the
social sector and in the neighbourhood, so that the neighbourhood can become more than just a
place of residence.
The land occupation factors should be redefined, to enable activities to be installed close to the
buildings and at the neighbourhood entry points, and more particularly at the Northern entry, around
the Chapeau de Gendarme and the public transport line stations, thus creating links with the rest of
the city.
The neighbourhood potential, notably as a function of its accessibility, should be promoted, to
encourage the installation of activities, both for neighbourhood residents, wishing to launch projects
and work within the neighbourhood, and also for those from outside the neighbourhood, also
wishing to implement projects.
A few initiatives are starting to be created in the economic solidarity sector. These should be
supported and developed. The Saturday morning market in the Place Jean XXIII should be
considered to be an excellent form of economy, in terms of diversity of the local trading offer (see
the Local Agenda 21).
Finally, as the Chapeau de Gendarme is a centre of city activity, and thus the most attractive
shopping offer for the « La Roseraie » neighbourhood, the possibility of reactivating the Jean XXIII
shopping centre should be considered. However, this question would require further analysis, which
has already been initiated by the City44.
6. Unresolved questions
Following this presentation, a number of questions remain unresolved, and require further
consideration within the context of the neighbourhood analysis procedure. The analyses produced
by the three consultants working on the neighbourhood definition plan lead to the stating of these
questions, with the suggestion of a number of possible courses of action, all of which require
consideration, and are consistent with the initial objectives of the City of Angers.
These main questions or suggestions are:
1 – What commercial development ?

The City of Angers specifications call for the valorisation of three shopping centres: the Chapeau
de Gendarme, Jean XXIII and Jean Vilar.
However, from the sustainable development point of view, it seems somewhat inconsistent to
increase the size of the Chapeau de Gendarme. It is important that the tram system should enable
the neighbourhood residents, and those in the houses to the South of the neighbourhood, to travel to
the shopping centre. However, modifying the road system to converge on the Chapeau de
Gendarme would clearly be detrimental to the other neighbourhood shopping centres, and
especially the Jean Vilar centre (for example, for the entire Western part (Salpinte), that one of the
consultants wishes to modify).
44
A specific analysis of the shopping situation has been ordered by the Angers City economic development agency, to
provide an expert’s view of the complex question of the future of the three neighbourhood shopping centres.
CSTB - LA CALADE 41
Conversely, the Jean XXIII centre, and to a lesser extent that of Jean Vilar, could be developed or
even demolished and rebuilt, with only small local shops, the Jean Vilar centre being a cultural
and sports centre for the City, and not only for the neighbourhood. The Jean XXIII centre must
be better equipped, pleasant, spacious, corresponding to all the neighbourhood sectors, and
especially towards the new installations, services and offices created to the North of the
neighbourhood, in place of the Angers Habitat high-rise blocks. These should be served by the
tram system towards the City centre and also towards the neighbourhood itself. This should
stimulate life and prosperity in the neighbourhood, and could even be a source of jobs for a few
local residents.
2 – What diversity in terms of housing, taking into account the economic realities imposed by the
real estate market?
This subject should be approached as a function of the various existing zones and types of
residence. It should also be considered in relation to the trend of the building land market in Angers.
Our answer to this question, in view of the poor exterior quality of some of the social housing
would be to:
- Selectively demolish (which respects the environmental aspect, through the valorisation of
the waste, while also creating jobs on the demolition sites, in the waste sorting and pre-
treatment plants and in the waste valorisation installations)45 the Angers Habitat high-rise
blocks in the Northern part of the neighbourhood (trapped between the « Immaculée
Conception » on one side, and behind the Jean XXIII shopping centre).
- Rebuild houses and flats based on the HQE method (see the Angers Agenda 21) for
subsequent sale to the residents, while also encouraging mixed utilisation (tertiary on
the lower floors).
3 – Demolish or renovate and in what proportions?

This is an extremely complex question and, to give a precise answer, we shall adopt the analysis
method developed with the local authorities and with Angers Habitat, and financed by the Loire
Region DRE46…
A possible answer to the question could be:
- Renovate the Angers Habitat strips (which surround the Jean XXIII shopping centre) and
open them to the block centres (this should be discussed when the apartments are sold, as a
function of the financial means of the tenant/purchasers).
- Selectively demolish a few end strips to eliminate the cul de sacs and mazes, notably to the
South of the Jean XXIII shopping centre (this answer was also given by the consultants
selected by the City).
- Selectively demolish the three strips which surround the Jean XXIII shopping centre to
open the centre at least to the North, or even to the North, South, East and West, as it is in
the centre of the neighbourhood. This would allow the new public transport system to run
through the new shopping centre, on a circuit that has already been defined by the local
authorities (scenario 1).
- Partially demolish the buildings to the North of the Jean XXIII shopping centre (the
Angers Habitat high-rise blocks already mentioned in question I) to facilitate the access of
the tram system to the Jean XXIII shopping centre.
- Large scale renovation of the Jean Vilar centre, to provide better conditions and more
clarity concerning the activities proposed, with the addition of new activities.
45
The extra cost of selective demolition will be met by the ADEME (sometimes with a supplement from the Region)
for the first 30 applications submitted to the ADEME. To date, around a dozen applications have been submitted…
46
See brochure produced for the Toulouse collective housing congress in June 2001: « Renovate or build and demolish
for sustainable neighbourhood development? »
CSTB - LA CALADE 42
4 – In terms of economic development, how can the installation of new activities in the
neighbourhood be encouraged?
- By restructuring the Jean XXIII shopping centre, open to the four cardinal points, and
surrounded by services and tertiary activities.
- By creating new buildings housing services and offices in the North of the neighbourhood
(replacing the Angers Habitat high-rise blocks and over the shopping centre).
- By not « excessively » favouring the Chapeau de Gendarme though the neighbourhood road
network (one of the projects proposes to converge the entire neighbourhood road network
towards the Chapeau de Gendarme. In our view, this could only be done to the detriment of
Jean XXIII and, under these conditions, any renovation and consolidation of Jean XXIII
should be preceded by a thorough feasibility study), but by developing suitable road
networks, with clear direction signs, for private cars, bicycles and pedestrians.
5 – How can the neighbourhood attraction be restored, to provide a positive image for residents
and for the rest of the City?
- By working on the urban furniture and direction signs (a major need in the
neighbourhood at present),
- By structuring spaces and interfaces between private spaces and public spaces,
- By developing the Salpinte zone exterior spaces and the renovated high-rise blocks in
the Angers Habitat Dumont d’Urville,
- By restructuring Jean XXIII, and also the Jean Vilar sports and cultural installations,
- By eliminating the cul de sacs and mazes in the road system,
- By urban restructuring around the tram system.
6 – How can advantage be gained from the clean site public transport line (TCSP) planned in the
urban development plan (PDU), and its terminus, to provide a better link between the
neighbourhood and the rest of the city, and to make La Roseraie a destination for Angers
residents?
- By serving Jean XXIII and especially Jean Vilar (cultural and sports installations for the
entire City),
- By installing attractive equipment at Jean Vilar (what equipment?…),
- Through pedestrian circulation between and towards Jean Vilar and Jean XXIII, and
towards the Southern sports ground (La Roseraie ground),
- Not forgetting the cycle paths, etc.
7 – How can the public spaces become shared and sharable mixed spaces. How should the
various spaces be structured, and what does this imply in terms of creation, operation and
management?
- By eliminating the mazes and cul de sacs for cars,
- By facilitating pedestrian circulation and notably by creating passages through the blocks,
and particularly the blocks forming a « U »,
- By providing spaces for young people,
- By facilitating access to these spaces and ensuring their safety,
- By enhancing the interfaces between public and private spaces (especially to the North,
for Angers Habitat, and at Salpinte),
- By urban furniture and direction signs.
8 – How should the geographical distribution, the installation and operation of local equipment
be organised, to meet the expressed requirements?
- Firstly, by clear and pleasant direction signs,
- Also, the road layouts should be organised (cars, cycles and especially pedestrians)
towards the installations,
CSTB - LA CALADE 43
- Select equipment as a function of the various types of population (the elderly persons at
Salpinte, for example, if there is a high proportion of foreign culture among the population,
specific installations may be necessary, etc.),
- Do not forget unexpressed requirements, etc.
9 – What creations and installations could stimulate friendly activities and develop social
interfaces?
♦ Creations:
- Games areas for adolescents,
- Urban furniture: public bench seats, notably at Salpinte, where the population seems more
elderly,
- Cycle and footpath networks,
- Green spaces or a green corridor structure,
- etc.
♦ Installations:
- crèches and nurseries,
- games for the 12 to 18 year-olds (roller areas, etc.),
- fenced-off playing areas for very small children,
- sports pitches,
- space and installations available for associations,
- etc.
10 – What equipment is required to meet the needs of young people, to acknowledge their
existence within the neighbourhood ?
- games spaces such as roller areas,
- insulated spaces (acoustic insulation) but not obscure (for reasons of safety) to prevent
noise problems,
- games rooms inside the Jean Vilar centre, as monitoring will be necessary to avoid damage:
baby-foot, billiards, etc.
- financially accessible sports equipment: swimming pool, sports pitches, tennis, etc.
- etc.
CSTB - LA CALADE 44
HQE2R
INVENTORY AND S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF

"ANZIN CITY CENTRE" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of ANZIN
CSTB – La Calade
Daniela Belziti CSTB
Céline Mullier La Calade
European Union
CSTB - LA CALADE 45
CONTENTS
1. INVENTORY ..................................................................................................................... 47
1.1. Population 48
1.2. Accomodation 48
1.9. Environment 51
2. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DIAGNOSIS AND STAKES FOR THE

NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................ 52
2.1. Potentials 52
2.2. Weak points 52
2.3. Stakes 52
CSTB - LA CALADE 46
1. Inventory
Anzin, situated 16 km far from the Belgian frontier in the centre of Valenciennes conurbation, is a
city of the North Department and of the region Nord Pas-de-Calais.
The city started expanding in the 18th century when a coal vein was founded and the Compagnie des
Mines d’Anzin was set up to extract the coal in the region of Valenciennes . Since the start of this
activity, the population has increased quickly: the coal miners lived on their working place. This
rapid influx of people is accompanied by massive construction of repetitive housings that still
characterize nowadays the city.
The mining and the steel-making activities have represented for two centuries the urban
development factor. In 1975 began the problems that have caused the falling-down of these sectors.
Nowadays, on the one hand, the activities closure has been the crisis factor, at the other hand the
land where they were taking place constitute a fundamental land reserve opportunity.
The neighbourhood taken into consideration for this analysis is situated in the centre of the city and
it is composed by 3 areas:
- Jules Ferry – De Gaulle ;
- Centre – Zola – Verrerie – République ;
- Dampierre – Saint Waast.
The city of Anzin and the “city-centre” neighbourhood

(Source “Contrat de Ville 2000-2006” Ville d’Anzin)
CSTB - LA CALADE 47
1.1 Population
The population of the neighbourhood has decreased since 1962 (INSEE data).
There are 14,058 inhabitants in the city (1999 census) and 7,085 residents in the centre of the city,
i.e. 50.4% of the total population of Anzin lives in the neighbourhood. The density is of 38.6
inhabitants per hectare and it proves the high urbanization of the neighbourhood. The population
structure has not changed since 1990: the people under 20 years old are 29.1% of the
neighbourhood population and the people over 60 are 19.2%.
The neighbourhood is characterised by a large population of workers (33% of the active people)
and employees (32%). The high-specialized working population is underrepresented (6%).
Neighbourhood population is composed by a relevant number of young people (above all in the
Centre - Zola – Verrerie - République and Dampierre - Saint Waast areas).
The educational standard is low in the neighbourhood: on the one hand, 14.5 % of people over 15
years old have a high school diploma, on the other hand people having any school diploma
represent 27% of people over 15 years old. The INSEE data show also that there are not many
people going on with their education after obtaining the high school diploma.
Only a low immigration concerns the neighbourhood. As far as the population origin is concerned,
foreign people represent 4.9% of the total neighbourhood population.
The unemployment rate is high in the neighbourhood (≈ 30% in 2001) essentially because of the
economic recession of the steel-making activity and the lack of qualification of the people. In fact,
the unemployed population is mostly represented by workers and employees.
The centre of Anzin is characterized by a population having low incomes. The rate of people
requesting the R.M.I (Minimal Insertion Revenue which is allowed by the state) in the
neighbourhood (above all in the Centre - Zola – Verrerie - -République area) is high: it represents
43% of the request of the Anzin population (January 2000 – INSEE).
As far as the health conditions are concerned, the neighbourhood presents an alarming situation.
Babies suffer from under and not-adapted feeding and from hygienic problems. By the young
people the lack of personal and feeding hygiene and drug addiction can be found. By the adults,
drug addiction and alcoholism seem to be the most serious problems.
Generally, the neighbourhood is characterized by a repeat of the family pattern, i.e. large family,
close pregnancies… and by the difficulties for the young ladies to approach contraception.
1.2 Accomodation
Accommodation in the centre - city neighbourhood suffers from two main problems:
- An important decrease of attractivity and depreciation phenomena;
- A low accommodation renewal rate.
• Evolution of the accommodation
Housing construction activity in the neighbourhood is extremely low: the amount of new buildings
built during the period 1990-1999 has an average 3 housings per year. However, during the same
period the housings number has increased. These data prove that accommodation evolves outside
the construction of new buildings: in fact, the old or the tertiary buildings have been turned into
smaller housings.
CSTB - LA CALADE 48
• The existing buildings

The most portions of housings are represented by simple family houses, (73% of the
accommodations) and partly by apartment buildings. The portion of secondary and vacant
residences is not relevant.
The housings in the whole Anzin are old and 20% of housings on the neighbourhood do not satisfy
the minimum comfort requirements. This rate concerns housings without any system of central
heating, housings without toilet (14.2% of total number of housings) or without any shower or bath
(9.9% of total number of housings).
The analysis of the values concerning the number of rooms per housing in the main residences
(INSEE) shows that the most part of them have a large size: 48.7% of the main residences have 3 or
4 rooms; 37% have more than 5 rooms. The smaller housings turn out to be the most recent ones.
The comparison between these data and those concerning the number of people per housing, i.e.
2.59, shows the under occupation of the housings (0.64 people per room).
An important problem affecting the housings is the presence of slum landlords that sometimes live
abroad and even so they receive the housing aide from the CAF (Caisse d’Allocation Familiales).
Their activity (above all along the Avenue Anatole France) is proved by the complains of the
tenants.
Facilities level is rather satisfactory. In the centre of the city are concentrated all the public,
cultural, health and social facilities and services.
Nevertheless, there is a lack of public equipments in certain areas like the Dampierre - Saint Waast.
This area can benefit of the presence of a relevant cultural equipment of the city i.e. the Dampierre
castle that receives many expositions.
1.4 Economic activity
The previous mining and metallurgical industry have left a mark on the whole city and
consequently in this neighbourhood. These sectors have lost a big part of its industries. Valmont
industry, for example, has closed its activity in 1998 and has disappeared. This area has become a
brown field and consequently an important land reserve for the future development of the
neighbourhood.
Trade activities are concentrated along one of the two main roads of the city included in the
neighbourhood (i.e. Avenue Anatole France ) and on a square (i.e. Roger Salengro square). There
is a lack of trades and generally of economic activities in all the other areas of the neighbourhood.
Trade activity is also characterized by an important presence of retail trades and by a dynamic
market taking place twice a week on the Roger Salengro square. This market is considered as one
of the most important of the conurbation.
The economic and trading dynamic of the neighbourhood will be fostered by the big improvement
projects concerning that will be realized or that are being realized in the neighbourhood. Within the
framework of these actions, the improvements of the Roger Salengro square will exploit the
potentiality of the market.
In order to improve trade activities, the neighbourhood is the object of a specific commercial study
that highlights present and future conditions of development and constitutes also the basis for a
state programme “Craft and Commercial Intervention and Survival Fund” (F.I.S.A.C), programme
designed to give the local business a new dynamic.
CSTB - LA CALADE 49
There is a lack of parks or green areas: there is only one public park in the neighbourhood (i.e.
Dampierre Park) and a cemetery. There are not many tree-alignments in the neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood is characterized by a lack of public spaces. The few public spaces existing
favour sometimes the gathering of young people and the development of band phenomena, of drug
activities, of insecurity, etc. (Jules Ferry – De Gaulle area).
The neighbourhood is structured around an east-west axis, i.e. Avenue Anatole France (not
completely situated in the considered neighbourhood and defining its north boundaries).
On the one hand, traffic is rather intense on this main axis, on the other hand other areas of the
neighbourhood have transportation problems and seem to be enclosed (for example Jules Ferry –
De Gaulle area).
The two main axis of the city (Avenue Anatole France and Jules Jaurès) start from the crossroad
Croix d’Anzin. Although the Croix d’Anzin is a traffic main point for the neighbourhood, it doesn’t
constitute a neighbourhood entrance. In fact the neighbourhood and consequently the city have no
place that could be defined as an entrance.
The neighbourhood is served by several public or school bus lines.
The residents will also benefit of a tramway transportation called TRANSVILLES that has been
approved in 1998 and will be finished in 2010. Works concerning the first phase are running and the
route of the tramway will pass through the Valmont area.
At the moment, travelling around in private vehicles is largely dominant. 77% of working people
use only one motorized transportation mode to go to work. 83% of them use their private car and
only 10.5% of them the public transports (INSEE 1999).
There are only few cycle bands and those existing are not continuous, so they are insecure.
There are few attractive elements for the inhabitants of the city. Moreover, there is no
neighbourhood entrance.
Public spaces are essentially the streets. Only two squares (Salengro and Constant Moyaux) play
a strong part of centrality and attractiveness.
There is no historical monument in the neighbourhood (as in the whole Anzin). Nevertheless
some buildings (the old Valmont factory, the municipal theatre, the city hall and the Dampierre
castle) are considered as interesting in an architectural and in a urban point of view and therefore
should be exploited.
The area possesses a big surface of land reserve, i.e. the Valmont zone. In fact a project for the
extension of the centre of the city concerns this zone.
The city counts 7 squares whose 5 are situated in the city-centre neighbourhood: Salengro square,
Constant Moyaux square, square of the Arts, Concorde square, Jules Guesde square. Considering
CSTB - LA CALADE 50
that the housing typology is structured around a restricted parcel (construction lacking of garage),
an important part of the public space is used for the parking. A certain number of wide streets needs
an urban treatment in order to organize at the same time parking, pedestrian comfort and cycle
tracks.
The urban environment is marked by a relevant density of buildings: in fact the city-centre of
Anzin is characterized by a continuous urban fabric.
1.9 Environment
• Risks
There is no particular technological or natural risk in the area.
• Resources
The drinkable water quality seems to be very high.
There still are a lot of households without central heating system, using non-efficient ovens.
No action is taken in the neighbourhood for either energy or water management and savings.
• Pollution
Disturbing noise levels are due to road traffic along the two main structuring axes.
• Waste
Waste collection is made once a week:
- Once for the household not sorted-out waste ;
- Once for the green waste;
- Once for the sorted-out waste (paper, glass, metals, etc.)
• Soil pollution
The Valmont brown field has some residua of heavy metals that should be taken away before the
construction implementation.
1.10 Social life
Social life is marked by the presence of several associations in the Centre – Zola – Verrerie –
République area. Nevertheless, the social demand for activities devoting to children and to young
people. The neighbourhood is characterized by social mixity.
All the areas of the neighbourhood are affected by social and school problems.
Security seems to be a problem in the neighbourhood, above all in the Centre – Zola – Verrerie –
République area where criminality and drug addition are widespread.
A movie from Bertrand Tavernier shows this very poor area of Anzin, with all the social problems
of its residents…
CSTB - LA CALADE 51
2. Sustainable Development diagnosis and stakes for the

neighbourhood development
2.1 Potentials
Despite its numerous difficulties, few characteristics might help enable the renewal of the
neighbourhood. The proximity and the connection of the neighbourhood to the centre of the
conurbation of Valenciennes will be improved by the creation of the tramway and by the
connection by the highway A23 – Saint Waast, Anzin. The neighbourhood, situated in the centre of
the city, can take advantage of a good highway service.
This proximity has also been an obstacle because all facilities and services are concentrated in the
centre of the conurbation.
The main potential of the neighbourhood consists in the possibility of urbanization of the
Valmont area. That action could solve the lack of dwellings in the city and in the whole
conurbation and foster the development of an area close to the centre of the conurbation. This
project will be a dynamic element for the revitalisation of the neighbourhood as well as of the
whole city of Anzin.
The presence of an important number of young people is another potential for the neighbourhood.
2.2 Weak points
The neighbourhood faces many difficulties. From a demographical point of view, the
neighbourhood is characterized by the over-representation of not much or not qualified
population. The unemployment rate is very high (30%) because of the economic recession and of
the no-capacity of reconversion. Moreover, the work situation is not stable. The incomes are very
low and people requesting the “R.M.I.” (Minimal Insertion Revenue) or other social aides are
strongly represented. There are also a large number of young people in difficulty.
20% of the housings are under the minimum level of comfort. The renting accommodation is
also affected by slum landlords. Moreover, housings don’t suit to the needs (size and comfort).
Alcoholism, drug addiction and feeding are alarming.
The urban space is very dense (density of urbanization) and there is a lack of green spaces.
There are important noise disturbances due to road traffic, as was said, especially along the main
axes. Nothing has been done for improving the environment.
2.3 Stakes
Four main stakes seem to appear for this neighbourhood:

1. Deteriorated housing conditions (20% of housings);
2. Economic impact of the big city improvement projects (tramway and A23 highway);
3. New sustainable buildings;
4. Lack of public spaces quality.
• To reduce the deteriorated housing conditions
Fighting against the bad housings conditions of the neighbourhood seems fundamental at the short
term; indeed several data highlight that the levels of comfort are widely lower than the national
standards. This situation is not localized in a specific area but concerns the entire neighbourhood in
a diffuse way and the areas closed to the main axis (i.e. Avenue Anatole France).
CSTB - LA CALADE 52
It was noticed also the existence of slum landlords and of small owners searching for an
additional income. These owners buy at a reduced price one or two small and very old flats and
realize scanty restoration works aiming at hide anomalies (that will generate then difficult situations
to manage for the tenants …).
Therefore it is necessary not to let this part of the population on the fringe and to launch some
urban renewal actions.
The improvements in housing conditions could be made possible by the following actions led by the
City of Anzin:
- A complains inventory in order to find the comfort requiring and insalubrious housings;
- A voluntary presentation to the owners of the financing existing tools for the realization of
housings conditions improvement works.
The City could also oblige the housing improvements after a certain period in the framework of the
Sanitary Departmental Regulation and in that one of the Public Health Code.
The CAF (Caisse d’Allocations Familiales), the DDASS (Direction Départamentale des Affaires
Sanitaires et Sociales) etc. might be partners of the City in the renewal in order to:
- be able to control the payment for the housing aides;
- realize other actions aiming at the fight against the insalubrious housings.
• To optimise the economic impact of the new city improvement projects

Important projects will change the organization and the life of the neighbourhood: i.e. the
tramway line and the connection A23 – Saint Waast- Anzin centre. These two actions will create
new city entrances and new trade axis.
These new facilities will modify the nature of the displacements and also the social structure of
the whole city and in particular of the neighbourhood taken into consideration. The tramway line
will enable an additional population to go through the neighbourhood and will make them become
new users of facilities, services and trades.
The tramway line offers two opportunities:
- The development of the city-centre of Anzin neighbourhood as an attractive pole of the
conurbation;
- The promotion of the image of the neighbourhood.
The project will include the creation of an important station next to the city hall and will modify the
population flow coming from the entire conurbation to the Roger Salengro square. Thanks to the
improvements led in the framework of the tramway project, new trades and services will taking
place in the neighbourhood and will revitalize its economic activity.
• To erect new sustainable buildings

The Valmont will be the object of another important project that is supposed to have a big impact
on the neighbourhood life. In this area, housings, trades, new services will be constructed as an
expansion of the city-centre.
This action will allow to face to the strong demand for new housing in the city and to realize new
constructions having particular environmental characteristics included in French High
Environmental Quality procedure. This procedure takes into account firstly the impact of the
building on the outdoor environment, (such as the resources management and eco-construction)
and the creation of a satisfactory indoor “environment” for the inhabitant (such as the comfort
in the housing and the health).
CSTB - LA CALADE 53
The impacts of this project and of the tramway project on the neighbourhood and particularly on
the inhabitants are an important stake in the short and in the medium term because of the new
significance that the city-centre will acquire. Among these impacts, those linked to the
disadvantaged populations (unemployment, social exclusion, marginalized young people) should
be absolutely taken into account.
A possible consequence of these urban improvements seems to be the increasing dichotomy
between the renovated city-centre where all the public facilities and services are concentrated
and the other neighbourhood or city areas. Therefore it is evident that realization of new H.Q.E.
buildings should be accompanied by the housings conditions improvements (as mentioned above)
and by other actions in favour of the reduction of this dichotomy and in favour of the social
problems solution.
• To improve the public spaces

Neighbourhood environmental quality is not satisfactory and it is fundamental to make an effort
to enhance the attractiveness, the image of the neighbourhood as the quality of life of the
inhabitants.
Public space improvement is consequently an important stake.
The actions that could be led are:
- Development of places for recreation and leisure, both in terms of sports and of public
gardens;
- Creation of sociable meeting points i.e. creation of certain facilities like Neighbourhood
Houses and welcoming animated structures especially for young people;
- Creating parking areas.
The public space is essentially occupied by streets and squares.
The creation of the tramway lines and the development of the new attractiveness of the
neighbourhood highlight the importance to realize a special urban renewal along the main axis
of the neighbourhood, i.e. Avenue Anatole France.
In order to improve the whole public spaces of the neighbourhood, the squares, the gardens and also
the sidewalks should be involved in the planning.
The City should take into account different criteria and recommendations:
- Encouragement to the use of the bicycle;
- Security for all the users;
- Improvement of squares and sidewalks by the planting of trees and of flowers;
- Choice of an adequate urban furniture in order to make the space welcoming;
- Reduction of the visual impacts like hording;
- Creation of an attractive urban lightning;
- Public spaces accessibility for elderly and handicapped people.
The City will have to re-define the localization and the accessibility to the public facilities and
services. This localization could be realized by the creation of new services and facilities or by the
development of the mass transports.
CSTB - LA CALADE 54
HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"MIMONT-PRADO-REPUBLIQUE"
NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of CANNES
CSTB – La Calade
European Union
CSTB - LA CALADE 55
CONTENTS
1. INVENTORY ..................................................................................................................... 57
1.1. Population 57
1.2. Accomodation 57
1.3. Equipments and services 58
1.9. Environment 59
2. SD DIAGNOSIS AND STAKES....................................................................................... 60

2.1. Generalities 60
2.1.1 Potential 60
2.1.2 Weak points 60
2.2. Dynamics of the neighbourhood 61
2.3. Stakes 61
2.3.1 Pauperisation of the neighbourhood 62
2.3.2 Integration of the neighbourhood in the city 62
2.3.3 Public spaces 63
2.3.4 Environmental quality 63
CSTB - LA CALADE 56
1. INVENTORY
The city of Cannes started expanding in the 19th century when the neighbourhood “Mimont –
Prado – Republique” started developing as a consequence of a large number of workers from Italy
settling down near luxurious middle-class buildings. The remains of this era coexist today with
new buildings of the 1970-80’s. The area offers then a quite varied town-planning where are
mixed together collective and individual buildings of all types and all times.
This neighbouhood of 72.8 hectares is situated in the East of Cannes and constitutes a zone lying
around the centre of the city; it is bounded on the West by the Carnot Boulevard and the Gallieni
Avenue, on the East by the domain of Californie, on the North by the communal limit and on the
south by the rail track and the Urban Boulevard, which separates it from the city centre.
1.1 Population
There are 7147 inhabitants in the neighbourhood (1999 census) and the density is of 9820
inhabitants per km2.
The neighbourhood has experienced a loss of population during the last years. The decrease was
of 5% compared to 1990 (the average evolution rate is of –0.6% per annum between 1990 and
1999) and of 25% compared to 1975.
The neighbourhood is characterised by a large population of retired people. The age group of
people over 60 has largely prevailed for decades, but it is a characteristic shared by the whole city
of Cannes. As a consequence, there is a large proportion of people living alone: 1.86 people per
household in average in 1999. Therefore, the renewal of people born in the neighbourhood is
limited.
The proportion of working people is fairly low (41% of the total population of the neighbourhood);
as for the employed working population, it is only of 32.2% of the total population.
Finally, the rate of people requesting the R.M.I (insertion minimal revenue) in the neighbourhood is
the highest in the city: 41% of the requests of the whole city, i.e. 654 people (9% of the area
population). Furthermore, many families in the neighbourhood are eligible for social aide. There is
also an important number of young people living in difficult conditions.
1.2 Accomodation
• The evolution of accommodation
There are 6085 flats and houses, of which 3894 are main residences (64%), 1217 are secondary
residences (20%) and 974 are vacant (16%). Accommodation is therefore under-used, with only
64% of permanently occupied accommodation (with only 1.86 person per housing in average).
Moreover, the proportion of secondary residences and vacant residences has been increasing.
The number of vacant residences has risen from 611 in 1990 to 974 in 1999, that is an increase of
363 residences, which led to O.P.A.H (programmed operation for improvement in housing) being
put in place.
Main residences are for the main part flats in collective buildings (92.6% of accommodation), the
H.L.M.s (low rent housing) being 6.6% of the main residences of the neighbourhood and 4.2% of
all accommodation.
This neighbourhood is then characterised by the double phenomena of the departure of its
permanent inhabitants and their progressive replacement by tourists and “occasional” tenants.
There is, however, a great demand of social accommodation in the neighbourhood.
Housing activity in the neighbourhood is low: the amount of new buildings built per annum is
less than 0.4% of the existing buildings of the area, which is not even enough for its renewal, taking
into account the old age and the decrepitude of the buildings. The property tax Market is close to
CSTB - LA CALADE 57
inexistent and the prices are very low compared to the rest of the region, particularly so in the areas
of Mimont and Republique. However, housing agencies are very active for what concerns seasonal
renting.
• The existing buildings

Housing is quite heterogeneous: the south part of the neighbourhood is a mix of middle-class and
deteriorated housing. 4.5% of main residences were without comfort in 1999 and 11% of
households claim not to have central heating. A few houses’ frontages are deteriorated by
pollution, graffitis and other factors. Many of them are not esthetical. The “programmed operation
for progress in housing” (O.P.A.H.) set up in June 2001 aims to diminish simultaneously the
problems of vacancy and deterioration.
In the north part of the neighbourhood, some fine private buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries
with gardens of high quality can be seen.
1.3 Equipments and services

There are many schools in the neighbourhood and they are well distributed around the area.
However, there are only few administrative buildings and those are relatively dispatched and a
lack of sports and leisure facilities despite the great demand for such facilities.

There are numerous retail shops in the neighbourhood offering diverse products, although more
shops have become vacant in the recent years.
This commercial vacancy has risen to 26% of available rooming in the sector of Mimont, which is
considered little attractive despite a low sale price of less than 300 Euros per m2. This is one of the
consequences of the “pauperisation” of this neighbourhood.
In order to revitalise the commercial network and the local craft activity, the area is the object of a
“Craft and Commercial Intervention and Survival Fund” (F.I.S.A.C.), programme designed to give
the local business a new dynamic: improvements of shop windows, better use of signs and business
animated actions.

There are a few public gardens equipped with a games of bawls in the neighbourhood but there are
often little attractive. The area overall lacks of leisure and recreation structures, including
“proximity equipments” and public gardens and parks.
There are many private gardens and parks in the north of the neighbourhood (up to 40% of the area)
displaying beautiful plants.

The neighbourhood is structured around a north-south axis (Republique Boulevard), which is a
main commuting road from the neighbouring towns (Le Cannet and Vallauris) to the city centre.
There are also axes of less importance serving the east of the neighbourhood (Californie, Vallauris).
Traffic is rather intense on the north-south axis, with a traffic of between 10000 to 15000 vehicles
per day on twice one lane. This traffic tends to increase, the Urban Displacements Plan having not
taken interest in this neighbourhood quite possibly destined to receive some of the flow of vehicles
passing somewhere else (the Carnot Boulevard changing to twice one lane with a public transport
service in an “own site”).
CSTB - LA CALADE 58
Other axes are also very often blocked by intense traffic and parking problems are encountered in
the whole neighbourhood: there is one parking space legally available per 2.5 households in
average. A public car park was built but it is seldom used, with only about 20% of its places being
used (marking out and access problems). Moreover, the people working in Cannes city centre park
in the area to avoid paying the parking fees in use in the city centre.
Two public transport routes run through the area. Some users can also benefit from the buses
running through the surrounding areas. Despite these facilities, travelling around in private
vehicles is largely dominant.
Walking is not encouraged: the pavements are usually narrow and of bad quality, therefore
sometimes dangerous. Similarly, there are no cycle bands.
Finally, urban furniture is very much ill-matched and gives no unity to the neighbourhood: more
furniture ensuring cleanness (bins…) and comfort (banks…) would be wished for.

There are few attractive elements for the inhabitants of the city or the tourists: the market has
become less attractive with years, the gardens are not pleasant and pedestrian traffic is not well
organised.
Hotels are for the most part close to La Croisette and to the sea (225 beds i.e. 4.5% of the total
hotel availability of the city).
Moreover, the neighbourhood entrances are little attractive, with traffic jam zones and
unpractical links. The area is separated from the city centre by an urban avenue and the rail track.
Subways are poorly arranged and feel unsafe, which makes the link between the two areas
unpractical, mainly by foot.
Finally, public lighting is to be improved on the whole neighbourhood, especially in the subways.
There are three meeting places in the Mimont area for the inhabitants: a cyberspace and two
“association houses”, but there is no “neighbourhood house”.

The area does not possess available space and the community does not dispose of land reserve
funds.
Public areas are insufficient and the streets are largely occupied by traffic and parking spaces.
The urban environment is marked by great differences in the houses’ frontages (colour, shape)
and in the buildings and by the lack of public gardens. The neighbourhood offers no perspective in
terms of urban landscape and gives a “stifling” feeling amplified by the basin situation of the
south of the neighbourhood. This uneasy feeling in the south is made worse by cleanness problems
often mentioned by the inhabitants and the important number of vacant places.
1.9 Environment
• Risks
There are no particular technological risks in the area; there are however risks of floods in the
south (vallon de la Foux) and some yards and building halls are flooded in some years.
• Resources
In the City Council buildings, energy management is efficient, consumption are recorded and the
heating systems are recent. However, no measure is taken to manage the water economically.
Similarly, rain waters are not recycled, although a collection would be possible.
As for the inhabitants, no action is taken for either energy or water.
CSTB - LA CALADE 59
• Pollution
Traffic on the main axes creates NOx pollution which is sometimes important. The neighbourhood
also suffers occasionally from ozone pollution.
Moreover, disturbing noise levels are due to road traffic along the structuring axes.
• Waste
The quantity of waste per inhabitant is high because of tourism. A selective collection should
be put into place during the first 2002 semester but problems are encountered concerning the
localisation of the bins and containers as well as with making secondary residence occupants more
responsible.
Other waste problems concern restaurants, especially with their frying oils not being collected and
their wastes not being sorted out.
1.10 Social life

Social life is marked by the presence of several associations and of a well-developed feeling of
belonging to the area.
The area does not allow any specific problems to appear as for the security of people or belongings,
namely of cars.
However, security at school is sometimes a problem: road and civil insecurity and circulation
around scholar structures, but also insecurity due to the “permeability” of some schools.
2. SD DIAGNOSIS AND STAKES

2.1 Generalities
2.1.1 Potentials
Despite its numerous difficulties, a few characteristics might help enable the renewal of the
neighbourhood. The setting of the “Programmed Operation for Improvement in Housing” and of
the “Craft and Commercial Intervention and Survival Fund”, the rehabilitation of Jules Ferry High
School, the use of a new “poste d’ilotage” police service, the re-start of the “bio” market, a sorting-
out collection of wastes being put into place, as well as the beginning of revalorisation work on
public areas, all are dynamic elements of a possible global project of revitalisation beneficial to the
area.
A certain social mix of the population is established in the neighbourhood, where different ways of
life and styles meet. This social mix does not lead to any major specific security problems for
people and their belongings and crime is even decreasing.
The inhabitants benefit from a relatively good distribution of some services.
There are many schools in the area and they are well spaced out. The existing shops are varied and
two routes of public transport run through the area.
Places enabling social contact are also at the inhabitants’ disposal: there are three meeting places
in the Mimont area (a cyberspace as well as two association houses). Moreover, other associations
and animations are particularly put into place for the elderly.
This appearance of an area nice to live in is reinforced on one hand by a certain technological
security, the risks being inexistent, and on the other hand by a quite esthetical aspect: several
private buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries accompanied with quality gardens embellish the
neighbourhood.
These strengths probably contribute to developing the feeling of belonging to the neighbourhood.
2.1.2 Weak points
Despite these potentials, which are important strengths, the neighbourhood faces many difficulties.
CSTB - LA CALADE 60
From a demographical point of view, the neighbourhood has been experiencing a continuous loss
of its population since 1975. Retired people and people living alone are over-represented, the
renewal of the people coming from the neighbourhood risking then not to be ensured.
At a social level, people requesting the “R.M.I.” are strongly represented and many families
request social aides. There are also a large number of young people in difficulty.
As far as the housing is concerned, secondary residential accommodation is very important and
housing vacancy explodes. Housing activity is low, the land market is nearly inexistent and the
prices are very low for the region, namely on the sectors of Mimont and Republique. Moreover, a
few houses’ frontages are deteriorated and many remain not esthetical. Many accommodations are
still with no comfort. In addition, there is no land reservation in the area.
The lack of some services is beginning to be greatly felt. Despite a strong commercial potential at
first, commercial vacancy is increasing and activity is low.
Sports equipments are nearly inexistent and there is no “neighbourhood house”; there is also a
lack of close by spaces and equipments and the leisure structures are insufficient, existing
places lacking interest.
Adding to the lack of close by facilities, problems are encountered to get around in the
neighbourhood. Traffic of cars is largely dominant, road traffic is dense; many parking problems
arise from these facts. This invasion by cars is reinforced by the facts that appropriate pedestrians
structures are missing and that pavements are of a poor quality.
The traffic density diminishes greatly the neighbourhood attractiveness, already weakened by its
means of access and entrances, by its poorly developed public lighting and its too frequently
mentioned cleanness problems.
Furthermore, the south of the area is subject to flood risks.
As far as environmental politics is concerned, no measure has been taken either about the
economical management of the water (drinkable water and collection of rain waters) or about the
energy consumption by the inhabitants. The area is on the other hand subject to NOx pollution,
sometimes to ozone pollution too, due to intense city traffic. There are also important noise
disturbances due to road traffic, as was said, especially along the main axes.
During the past years, the “laisser-faire” has dominated the area development.
2.2 Dynamics of the neighbourhood

First of all, demand for social housing is high. The H.L.M.s of the neighbourhood represent 6.6%
of main residences accommodation, when those of Cannes represent 16% of all main residences.
Furthermore, the tourism attractiveness of the city lets down the neighbourhood more than it
benefits it: the majority of hotels face the sea. The area of “Mimont-Prado-Republique” is not
given any more value through tourism.
Finally, the neighbourhood is separated from the city centre by the urban boulevard and the rail
track. The neighbourhood is one of transit, linking the north of Cannes to the city centre. It is not
well integrated within the city and it lacks of attractive elements.
The main objective for the neighbourhood of “Mimont-Prado-Republique” is to allow this historical
area of Cannes to regain dynamism, liveliness, well-being and harmony.
2.3 Stakes
Four main stakes seem to appear for this neighbourhood:
• The pauperisation of the neighbourhood
• The difficulty for the neighbourhood to be integrated to the whole city
• The lack of public gardens
• The lack of environmental management politics.
CSTB - LA CALADE 61
2.3.1 Pauperisation of the neighbourhood
Fighting against the pauperisation of the neighbourhood seems fundamental; indeed, several data
seem to show that the neighbourhood is becoming poorer and poorer.
It was noted, first of all, there was a large sample of people in a precarious situation, namely,
many young people in difficulty. This can be explained firstly by the increase of the
unemployment rate during the past few years (from 15% in 1990 to 21% in 1999) but also by the
fact that many young people aged 16 to 25 are not well integrated.
In addition, it was observed that, following the trend of decrease in the number of inhabitants, the
population is also becoming much older and the majority of households are of one person only.
This is not favourable to the economical dynamics of the neighbourhood and does not attract project
holders.
Moreover, it was shown that about 36% of accommodation is not occupied or only occasionally
occupied, this diminishing greatly the buying capacity of the neighbourhood. Adds to this fact the
important quantity of accommodation qualified as uncomfortable, as they are not satisfying the
minimum comfort requirements: about 20% of the accommodation.
Finally, this pauperisation is increased by a loss in commercial and craft activity, namely
concerning antiquaries, which tend to disappear from the neighbourhood.
Therefore it seems necessary to bring forward:

• Fighting precariousness in families and especially amongst young people by a strong action,
namely in terms of integration,
• Continuing the rehabilitation of the neighbourhood’s accommodation and the development
of quality housing in order to increase property value and attractiveness of the
neighbourhood,
• Establishing new economical development axes able to benefit for instance from the
Croisette and from the importance of secondary residences and hotels in the neighbourhood
and its surroundings.
2.3.2 Integration of the neighbourhood in the city
The neighbourhood tends to suffer from the city instead of benefiting from its development.
Firstly, the tourism sector is more harmful to the neighbourhood than it is beneficial: as a
matter of fact, the majority of the hotels face the other way, and moreover, hotel accommodation in
the neighbourhood represents only 4.5% of the total hotel accommodation of the city and is mainly
located in the Mimont area. Furthermore, the neighbourhood counts more and more secondary
residences, which does not favour the local business; they occupy a lot of space but do not generate
wealth for the neighbourhood.
The problem can also be explained by the lack of equipment of community dimension –possibly
also of inter-community dimension-, or even by the lack of central location: no sports, cultural or
tourism structure enables the neighbourhood to attract people from outside.
Moreover, despite usually well stocked shopping streets, the neighbourhood is victim of a
commercial vacancy increasing year after year (vacancy rate of 22.3% over the neighbourhood).
The reasons for this are the absorption by supermarkets of the customers of smaller shops, a
street profile not contributing to generate commercial activity since with a urban background
unsatisfying pedestrians, the lack -and constant decrease- of main residences and the parking
difficulty.
CSTB - LA CALADE 62
The elements covered here result from the neighbourhood inaccessibility, with an important
problem to get around generating parking and traffic difficulty and increasing the lack of integration
of the neighbourhood to the rest of the city of Cannes. These problems are especially located
around the entrances to the neighbourhood on one hand and resulting from a dense traffic on the
other hand. They increase the difficulty encountered by pedestrians and cycles to get around.
The improvement in the integration of the neighbourhood to the city could be made possible by:
• Developing the hotel capacity of the neighbourhood in order to benefit from tourism
economical side effects and to recreate dynamics in the life of the neighbourhood by the
presence of a new population,
• Creating attractive equipments and/or centralising places to give a “new life” to the
area,
• Solving the problem of increasing commercial vacancy,
• Improving the neighbourhood’s entrances by making them safer and more esthetical and
improving the links to the city centre and the neighbouring areas thanks to the decrease in
the traffic in the main axes, which could be brought by the development of public transports
and the installation of lanes to facilitate and encourage pedestrian and cycle circulation.
2.3.3 Public spaces
Public places must be recreated and given a new value in order to compensate the lack the
neighbourhood is suffering from. This can be seen in several ways:
Firstly, we are speaking here about public places as places for recreation and leisure, both in terms
of sports and of public gardens. Apart from its two games of bowls and football goals, equipments
allowing the practice of sports of any kind are inexistent. This leads to a strong demand from the
inhabitants for the creation of a multi-sports area.
The existence of public places also means there are sociable meeting points, however, there are
only several welcoming and animated sites in the neighbourhood and those are designed for certain
categories of people only and not at all for an audience of 15 to 20 years of age. This age group
is also facing problems with wandering about and marginality. It then seems necessary to create
equipments such as a “neighbourhood house” and welcoming structures helping the economical and
social integration of young people.
Finally, these public places could also be car parks, in order to satisfy the great demand shown by
the large number of cars usually parked on unauthorised areas.
To recreate and give a new value to public places it is therefore necessary to develop the following
aspects:
• Development of recreation and leisure structures (sports structures and parks), with
particular attention given to the installation of a multi-sports field,
• Creating sociable places such as a “neighbourhood house” and welcoming animated
structures especially for young people aged 15 to 20, but also promoting area committees
linking inhabitants.
• Treating parking problems and solving especially the problem of insufficient parking places
for people living near schools or kindergartens.
2.3.4 Environmental quality
The environmental image and quality of the neighbourhood are given a low value. One of the main
reasons for this is the lack of environmental politics and management.
CSTB - LA CALADE 63
The presence of loud noise sources due to road traffic can be noted in the neighbourhood. Some
transit road axes generate an important vehicle flow and therefore increase the noise disturbance.
Moreover, two road axes pollute particularly in the neighbourhood. For people living there, air
pollution is the second source of disturbance after noise. Despite this fact, no effort is made to
make people aware of this existing air pollution. Inhabitants are only informed when pollution
levels get too high. Qualitair only takes measures: there is no campaign aiming at informing people
or making them more responsible.
Concerning water management, no measure is taken in favour of an economical utilisation. Rain
waters are not re-used despite a topology facilitating its collection in the neighbourhood.
Finally, environmental quality depending also on accommodation comfort (namely in the summer),
the quality of construction and of use of the buildings must be taken into account and it is necessary
to pay attention to the buildings’ surroundings in order to attract new populations and to decrease
the proportion of vacant accommodation.
Therefore, environmental quality can be treated at different levels:
• Developing actions and measures making the population more responsible in terms of
energy consumption and of economical water management,
• Fighting noise disturbance,
• Reducing air pollution, mainly by a decreased use of private vehicles,
• Creating an observatory on housing quality aiming to spot and eliminate
insalubrious housing and to improve comfort in some accommodation by adopting, if
possible, the High Quality Environmental Procedure,
• Managing rainwater.
CSTB - LA CALADE 64
HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"VISCOSE" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of ECHIROLLES
CSTB – La Calade
European Union
CSTB - LA CALADE 65
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.......................................................................................................................... 67
1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 67
2. THE INVENTORY ISSUES ............................................................................................. 67

2.1. Residential built spaces 69
2.1.1 Diversity 69
2.1.2 Integration 75
2.1.3 Heritage 76
2.1.4 Quality of life 77
2.1.5 Social link 77
2.2. Non-residential built spaces 78

2.2.1 Diversity 78
2.3. Non-built spaces 82

2.3.1 Diversity 82
2.3.3 Heritage 82
2.4. Infrastructures and networks 84

2.4.1 Diversity 84
3. SUMMARY PER OBJECTIVE AND TARGET

FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT............................................................................ 85
3.1. Objective: To preserve and enhance the heritage 85
3.2. Objective: To improve the quality of life 85
3.3. Objective: To improve diversity 86
3.4. Objective: To improve integration 86
4. REFERENCES................................................................................................................... 87
CSTB - LA CALADE 66
FOREWORD
This document was elaborated with the help of Véronique JARILLOT from OPAC 38, whom we
should like to thank.
1. INTRODUCTION
The objective of this study is the elaboration of sustainable development indicators for the
evaluation and follow-up or monitoring of actions undertaken in the Western sector of the Town
of Echirolles.
Taking account, on the one hand, of the actions already undertaken in the Western sector of the
town within the framework of the "Contrat de Ville" (City Contract with the State) and the
European PIC Urban programme and, on the other hand, of the Town’s concern not to delay the
process put in place in this sector, the Municipality of Echirolles decided not to continue with the
entire Western sector but with a specific neighbourhood, named “the Viscose estate”.
This neighbourhood must be subject to social and urban renovation, like the rest of the Western
sector, but is also the location of quite a profound problem of habitat and valorisation of exterior
spaces.
Three main axes must guide the work; these are also questions put by the Municipality of
Echirolles as a whole:
- What balance between the green spaces, the roads, the existing buildings and the public and
private spaces?
- How to re-establish urban mix in a neighbourhood?
- How should a neighbourhood be opened up with a view to its sustainable development?
2. THE INVENTORY ISSUES

The range of figures mentioned throughout this chapter comes mainly from OPAC 38, which
manages the entire heritage of the neighbourhood. However, a certain number of data comes from
the General Population Census of 1999 conducted by INSEE. These data correspond to blocks
representative of the neighbourhood. The values given by the census do not correspond to the
OPAC data because of the possible existence of double counts, the existence of some housing units
not belonging to OPAC and a number of uncertainties linked to the census method (quarter poll).
However, even with these differences, these data are irreplaceable and enable comparisons with the
rest of the town.
Situated in the northwest of Echirolles, the neighbourhood of the Viscose estate was delimited in
the following manner:
- To the north by the Rue Roger Lauraine;
- To the south by the Rue Géo-Charles, which separates it from the Parc Géo Charles /
Picasso;
- To the west by the Pont du Rondeau and A 48 intersection, which separates it from the
Comboire commercial estate;
- To the east by the Rue du 19 Mars 1962 and the Allées Maurice Ravel and Philippe
Rameau.
The estate is crossed from the northwest to the southeast by the Canal du Drac.
According to the INSEE census, this neighbourhood comes under IRIS 103 and includes the
following blocks: 26, 27, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 56, 57, 61.
CSTB - LA CALADE 67
Of this final block, only half of the housing units belong to the Viscose estate.
We shall then differentiate between the data from the Viscose estate, managed by OPAC 38, and
those from the Viscose neighbourhood, which adjoins a group of buildings on the Allée Maurice
Ravel (see map). The difference in population between the Viscose estate and the Viscose
neighbourhood is around 10%.
The Viscose neighbourhood is situated to the west of the town which, with the whole of the western
sector (Rondeau, Viscose, La Luire), is benefiting from the town conurbation contract (territory
combining the urban and social handicaps which should be subject to heavy urban restructuring)
during the period 2000 – 2006. This territory must integrate six thematic fields:
- Collective prevention and security;
- Habitat, housing and urban integration, movements;
- Economic development, access to employment, insertion;
- Education, training;
- Public health;
- Development of cultural and artistic activities.
The western sector is also included in a PIC URBAIN, the strategic objectives of which are as
follows47:
1. Provide the neighbourhoods with strong centres of action with the installation of new
amenities (public, economic, commercial), with a strong economic bias: create centres of
excellence in the neighbourhoods; revitalise neighbourhood businesses, create and establish
economic activities with a high cultural, sporting and creative content…
2. Adapt the urban frameworks from these centres of action to promote exchange between
neighbourhoods and improve the insertion of the neighbourhoods in the conurbation:
develop alternative modes of transport (an important issue is the treatment of the banks of
the Drac and the verges of the Rondeau crossroads), improve the urban framework…
3. Combat social, urban and numeric fracture and promote equal opportunities: promote the
access of minorities and young people to the new information and communication
technologies, cultural and sporting activities, promote sexual equality.
The project also puts the accent on the fact:
o Of associating the inhabitants and the third sector;
o Of renewing methods of governance;
o Of promoting cultural activities;
o Of promoting local development.
The PIC URBAIN is intended, amongst other things, to develop centres of action by using a local
development strategy, understood as the mobilisation of the lifeblood and energy of the
neighbourhoods, to enrich, diversify and renew the economic, social and cultural base of the
neighbourhoods. It plans to create and maintain sustainable employment by supporting the
economic fabric, the creation of cultural facilities and supporting the initiatives of inhabitants in
these fields, the objective being to sustain a hundred or so projects throughout the territory, creating
between 100 and 200 jobs one year down the line and between 300 and 500 jobs three years down
the line, half of which should be the fruit of local initiatives.
This study depends on the range of documents put together for the implementation of these
programmes, particularly:
- The General Social Urban Study carried out in January 2001 for the entire western sector;
- The urban neighbourhoods study of the west of Echirolles, northern sector, carried out in
June 2002;
47
ALGOE, 2000
CSTB - LA CALADE 68
- The Grenoble city conurbation contract 2000 – 2006, including the document entitled
“opening up and requalifying the west Luire / Viscose neighbourhood” of November 1999.
The study also depends on population census data and OPAC 38 data.
The appraisal is presented in the form of 4 chapters corresponding to the analysis of each of
the sub-spaces which make up the neighbourhood (residential built spaces, non-residential built
spaces, non-built spaces, infrastructures and networks) on various themes.
2.1 Residential built spaces

2.1.1 Diversity
2.1.1.1 Urbanisation
The town of Echirolles, situated south of Grenoble, has grown from a population of 2,200
inhabitants in 1945 to a population of around 33,200 inhabitants (33,169 inhabitants in 1999), on a
surface area of 756 hectares, i.e. an average density of 44 inhabitants per hectare. It is a former
suburban town which, today, has town status in its own right, constituting a centre of action to the
south of the conurbation of Grenoble, which numbers around 400,000 inhabitants.
During the Glorious Thirties, this strong demographic growth led to the realisation of numerous
neighbourhoods, some of which are made up only of large blocks and marked by major urban
fractures: railway lines, motorway bypass, large boulevards, EDF canal, pipelines. Because of this,
the town does not therefore as a whole constitute a homogenous urban entity, but is presented
as a disparate collection of neighbourhoods which suffer from a lack of urban links.
The Viscose factory (National Viscose Company) was built in the Grenoble area in 1920 in order to
produce artificial fibre from wood cellulose. As for its workers’ estate, it was established in
Echirolles in 1927. Therefore the population of Echirolles, at the time based mainly in the old
village, doubled on the arrival of these workers. At the present time, the factory not longer exists,
for it was demolished to be replaced by Techni-sud48 in Grenoble, thus losing part of its essentially
working class culture.
Certain elements of the landscape have directed the construction of buildings on the Viscose estate:
despite a certain apparent disorganisation, it follows the route of the link road from the “Ferme de la
Fanfare Municipale” to the Drac dyke and also that of the irrigation channels. The habitations run
along the roads and leave large stretches of grassland, where the workers’ gardens are less well
maintained than when it was originally installed.
The Viscose estate was designed as a garden estate with its 14 hectares, composed of small,
essentially two-storey buildings, offering a total of 362 housing units (source OPAC V. J. 2001)
today managed entirely by the Public Office for the Development and Construction of the Isère
(OPAC 38). At the end of the 1980s, certain housing units were renovated and part of the estate was
demolished and then rebuilt.
The western sector of Echirolles has already been subject to procedures within the framework of the
town’s policy: Habitat and Social Life (H.V.S.), Social Development of Neighbourhoods (D.S.Q.)
and, more recently, within the framework of the Town Contract in the period 1994-1999. The
neighbourhood is now included in the perimeter used in the Urban Programme of Community
Initiative (PIC URBAN).
Finally, the Echirolles Zoning Regulations class the Viscose neighbourhood entirely as an urban
zone (UB).
48
Technisud is an industrial estate which promotes the installation of Small- and Medium-sized Businesses (P.M.E.)
and Small- and Medium-sized Industries (P.M.I.) with high levels of qualification, responding to the needs of the
specialised industrial production units of the conurbation.
CSTB - LA CALADE 69
2.1.1.2 Population
At the last census by INSEE, the Viscose neighbourhood comprised 1,029 people, i.e. 3.1% of the
population of Echirolles (32,811 without double count, distribution per block).
This population is resident on the Viscose estate, more than 90% of which is managed by OPAC 38,
and the Maurice Ravel buildings.
In 2001 the Viscose Estate had a population of 943 people including 246 children, i.e. 26.1% of its
population (68.7% of whom were under the age of 13)49. Its number of inhabitants has increased
slightly since 1999, the date on which its population was 921 people, 28% of whom were children
(and 67% of them were under the age of 13).
Distribution by age
The population of the neighbourhood is relatively young.
According to the INSEE data of March 1999, the Viscose Estate has a larger population under the
age of 40 than that of Echirolles as a whole.
On the Viscose Estate, 29% of the inhabitants are under 20 (298 inhabitants) against 25.3% for
Echirolles as a whole; the 20 – 39 age bracket represents 36% of the population in Viscose (371
inhabitants) against 30.4% in Echirolles as a whole.
Distribution of the population by age
100%
80%
> 50 yrs
60% 40 - 50 yrs
40% 20 - 39 yrs
< 20 yrs
20%
0%
Viscose Estate Echirolles
Source: INSEE RGP 99
According to the OPAC data, the Viscose Estate has a population of 697 adults (i.e. 73.9%) and 246
minors, i.e. 79 children between 0 and 5 years of age (8.4%), 90 children between 6 and 12 years of
age (9.5%) and 77 adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age (8.2%).
This high percentage of twenty – forty year olds can be found in the distribution by age of the
reference persons in the households: one person in two is under 40 years of age (out of a total of
347 people, 57 people are under 30 years of age, 114 people are between 30 and 39 years of age, 40
people between 40 and 49 years of age, 65 people between 50 and 64 years of age and 71 people
over 65 years of age).
Origin
The Grenoble conurbation has always welcomed immigrant populations, with the great wave of
Italian immigration in the 1920s and the more recent one from the countries of North Africa.
The neighbourhood brings together a large group of foreign populations, i.e. 200 people or 19.8%
of the neighbourhood’s population (the foreign population represents 9.1% of the population of
Echirolles as a whole), leading to frequent problems of integration and casualisation. This
49
OPAC 38
CSTB - LA CALADE 70
population encounters difficulties in terms of access to fundamental rights (health, education, social
assistance, etc.) and employment.
In the same year, out of a population of 921 people, OPAC counted: 73% French, 15% North
African, 4% European and 8% other nationalities.
Active employed population

Social housing facilities house a large number of job seekers: in January 2001, the unemployed
numbered 103 on the Viscose estate according to the National Employment Agency (A.N.P.E.); this
number is falling in relation to previous years (the INSEE census of March 1999 shows 109
unemployed).
The rate of unemployment in the neighbourhood is higher than in Echirolles as a whole: 23.5%
according to the 1999 census (109 unemployed for an active population of 463 people) against 17%
for Echirolles as a whole (2,632 unemployed for an active population of 15,441 people50).
We also note that the rate of female unemployment is higher than amongst men and that major
disparities should be underlined concerning part-time work. The number of women working part-
time is 45.2% (i.e. 71 people), very much higher than that of men of 6.6% (i.e. 13 people), these
percentages being higher than those in Echirolles as a whole, where the number of women working
part-time is 38.4% (i.e. 2,283 people) and that of men 6.5% (i.e. 442 people).
In 2001, OPAC counted 49% in active employment, 43% of whom were on a low salary. The
remaining 51% are composed of 23% retired, 13% unemployed and 14% other situations (students,
housewives/househusbands, etc.). The rate of unemployment was therefore more than 23% in
2001…
Household resources
Resources after tax deduction (i.e. taxable income after deduction of professional costs…) amount,
for almost 70% of households, to between 150 and 760 euros per month (i.e. 1,000 to 5,000 F),
They only exceed 1,066 euros per month (7,000 F) for 6.7% of the population.
Distribution of the population per income bracket

in €/month
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 1 - 380 381 - 760 761 - 1065 1066 - 1371 -
1370 1675
Source: OPAC 38
Distribution per socio-professional category

Workers and salaried employees are in the majority in the distribution of households per socio-
professional category51
50
INSEE, RGP 99
CSTB - LA CALADE 71
Distribution of households per socio-professional category

Profession Number %
Farmer 0 0
Artisans, shopkeepers 4 1.1
Professions 1 0.3
Middle management, 10 2.8
supervisory management
Employees 72 20.2
Workers 88 24.6
Retired 76 21.3
Unemployed receiving 36 10.1
benefit
Unemployed not receiving 2 0.6
benefit
Student 1 0.3
Other categories 67 18.8
TOTAL 357 100.0
Source: OPAC 38
According to the INSEE census (March 1999), there should be 341 salaried people and 64 non-
salaried people in the neighbourhood.
2.1.1.3 Households
The Viscose estate comprises 357 households, whose situation is as follows:
- 32.2% people living alone (115 people).
- 12.6% single-parent families with children (45 families including 24 single-parent families
with 1 child, 7 single-parent families with 2 children, 12 single-parent families with 3
children, 2 single-parent families with 4 or more children).
- 55.2% couples of whom more than half have children: 89 childless couples, 38 couples with
1 child, 41 couples with 2 children, 18 couples with 3 children and 11 couples with 4 or
more children.
On average, the neighbourhood numbers 2.6 people per household, i.e. more than the average for
the western sector of Echirolles.
2.1.1.4 Social assistance

The Viscose estate constitutes a neighbourhood of high precariousness and its population has a
series of social and professional difficulties. It presents quite a broad sample of people in a difficult
situation with, specifically, 46 people receiving Supplementary Benefit (R.M.I.) for 362 housing
units, i.e. 1 person for 8 housing units. In Echirolles, the western sector of the social habitat is more
affected by precariousness than the other neighbourhoods of the town since it concentrates 65% of
the people receiving Supplementary Benefit in Echirolles52. By way of comparison, in Echirolles as
a whole, we can number 1 person receiving Supplementary Benefit for 45 housing units.
51
OPAC 38
52
Family allowance fund, CIRCO, EGSU, par. 7.5.2
CSTB - LA CALADE 72
In 2001, OPAC 38 estimated that 184 households receive APL [personalised housing
assistance], which represents 51.5% of the household on the estate (in 1999, 57% of homes
received APL).
Moreover, 21 households receive the Housing Solidarity Allowance (F.S.L.).
Finally, 61% of households have incomes lower than the ceiling of the Very Socially Assisted
Rental Loan Fund (PLATS), a figure which is rising because of the marked increase in the
number of homes newly moved into with resources lower than 760 euros per month.
2.1.1.5 Housing facilities

The Viscose estate is considered as an estate of residential housing: three residences, Ancienne
Viscose, Millepertuis and Les Cèdres, including garden plots. In effect, the buildings here are low
in height and the estate was initially conceived a garden estate. However, today the small gardens
are poorly maintained and, in reality, only the vestiges of garden plots remain.
The estate is made up of 64 buildings distributed over three lots, representing a total of 362 housing
units:
- Ancienne Viscose comprising 58 buildings, i.e. 280 housing units, of the small collective
house type in GF+1 or GF+2 (4 to 12 housing units), built in 1927 and renovated in 1984;
these buildings rest on cellars with buried or partially buried walls. The ceiling height is
three metres and the total surface area of housing units is 18,267 m2.
- Millepertuis comprising 5 buildings of 10 housing units each, built in 1993.
- Les Cèdres, comprising 1 building of 32 housing units, built in 1994, 16 of which constitute
a home for disabled people53.
Vacancy and rotation

In Echirolles, the lowest vacancy rates can be found more frequently in the social housing sector
than in the private sector. The most neglected territories occur in the oldest housing units, where the
main cause of vacancy is the insalubriousness of the habitat.
On the Viscose estate, INSEE counted 13 vacant housing units in 1999, i.e. 3.2%.
The OPAC statistics show very low vacancy rates ranging from 1.27% in 1998 to 1.65% in 2000.
Thus, out of 357 households monitored by OPAC 38, a third have been living in their housing unit
for less than two years (123 households, i.e. 34.5%), 70 households have been living there for
between 2 and 5 years (19.6%), 80 for between 5 and 10 years (22.4%) and 84 for between 10 and
15 years (23.5%)54.
To some extent, the Viscose neighbourhood has been unable to keep its former inhabitants. Thus,
out of 102 people from “the association of former inhabitant of Viscose”, resident in the
department, 17 live on the Viscose estate and 54 other people live elsewhere in the western sector,
whilst 20 more live in the centre of Echirolles, 12 in Villeneuve and 3 in Grenoble.
In spite of everything, the western sector remains marked by its history.
Distribution by status
The inhabitants of the estate are all tenants of OPAC 38. There is no home buying.
The neighbourhood numbers 362 social housing units, which represent almost 7% of the available
social housing units present in Echirolles (5,253 social housing units out of a total of 11,966
housing units, i.e. 44% of the available housing units, source INSEE, RGP 99).
Distribution by type of housing unit

According to the census, the neighbourhood includes 2 individual houses (i.e. 0.5%), 315 housing
units in buildings of 2 to 9 housing units (i.e. 73.8%) and 110 apartments in buildings with more
53
OPAC 38
54
OPAC 38
CSTB - LA CALADE 73
than 10 housing units (i.e. 25.8 %). Consequently, the neighbourhood is notable for its large
number of small residential buildings.
Distribution of housing units by size of building
100%
80%
building 10 or + housing
units
60% units
building 2 - 9
40% housing units

individual house
20%
0%
Viscose Estate Echirolles
Source: INSEE, RGP 99
Size of the housing units

Out of a total of 362 housing units, housing units of two or three rooms are the most numerous with
122 T2 (two rooms) and 200 T3 (three rooms). The neighbourhood also numbers almost 30%
housing units with 4 or + rooms (54 four room and 44 five room).
Distribution of available housing units per number

of rooms
100
80% 6 rooms
5
60% 4
40% 3
2
20% studio
0%
Estate Echirolles
Source: INSEE, RGP 99
In relation to Echirolles as a whole, the estate seems particularly well provided with 2 and 3 room
apartments, whilst the town of Echirolles has a large number of 4 room apartments.
The size of the housing units on the Viscose estate is 64m2 with an average of 3.5 rooms per
housing unit (against an average of 3.8 in Echirolles). The total surface area given over to housing
is 23,264m2 (with dependences).
CSTB - LA CALADE 74
2.1.1.6 Cost and use value of the habitat
Rents and charges

The average cost of rents and charges of the housing units is 375 euros per month, i.e. 4,500 euros
per year or 70 euros per year per m2.
On average the rents come to 308 euros per month per housing unit, i.e. 4.8 euros / month per m2.
On average the cost of charges represents 21.7% of the rental cost (67 euros per month, i.e. around
1 euro per month per m2).
The total cost of the housing unit seems relatively high for the social housing units. However, the
buildings have large surfaces areas devoted to greenery, which require considerable maintenance on
the part of OPAC 38.
Average cost of rents and charges per housing unit in 2002
Type of Rent in Charges in Monthly cost of Part of the
housing unit euro/month euro/month the housing unit in charges as a
euros % of the rent
T1 218.79 73.80 292.59 33.7 %
T2 252.54 47.87 300.41 19.0 %
T3 307.10 67.20 374.30 21.9 %
T4 381.40 95.74 477.14 25.1 %
T5 411.12 92 503.12 22.4 %
Source: OPAC 38
2.1.2 Integration
2.1.2.1 Geographical situation of the neighbourhood

Echirolles is situated to the south of Grenoble and constitutes its neighbouring centre of action. The
western sector is geographically set against the Drac, to the west, and the foot of the Vercors massif,
a little further to the west. It is highly characterised by this position at the plateau edge. Despite its
scale, this setting is given little consideration by the urban architecture, which neglects potential
openings onto the massif or the Drac, which would contribute a considerable source of landscape
enhancement.
The western sector, like the Viscose neighbourhood, is frequently presented as enclosed, because of
the limits or barriers constituted by the A480 and the Drac to the west and the Cours Jean Jaurès
and the railway line to the east. These two bars frame the western sector, which is also bordered to
the north by the Grenoble Southern Ring Road. Moreover, the feeling of enclosure comes from the
absence of transversal structuring road networks, the majority of entrances to the neighbourhood
ending in no through roads.
The agencies, Aktis and Paysage Plus, point out that the feeling of enclosure or isolation which
affects the Viscose neighbourhood is due more to the fact:
- That the entrances to the neighbourhood in south and north alike contribute to the
inhabitants feeling “trapped” rather than enclosed;
- That the neighbourhood is surrounded by wasteland, whence this feeling of abandonment;
- That public transport is not effective, due to the fact of the very absence of a bus stop in
front of the exit from the neighbourhood.
The existence of the canal, which bisects the neighbourhood, also strengthens these feelings of
isolation.55
2.1.2.2 Evolution of the population

In March 1999, the population of the Viscose neighbourhood was 1,029 inhabitants (524 men and
505 women), i.e. 3.14% of the population of Echirolles (32,811 inhabitants).
55
Aktis, page 17
CSTB - LA CALADE 75
This population is relatively stable over time, as shown by the OPAC 38 statistics.
The population housed by OPAC was 961 people in January 1996, 949 in January 1997, 939 in
January 1998, 894 in January 1999, 921 in January 2000 and 946 people in January 2001.
2.1.2.3 Requests for housing units

According to OPAC, an average of 65 requests for housing units are submitted per year for the
Viscose estate, mainly for the four and five room units, which represents a high demand
corresponding to 19% of the available housing.
2.1.2.4 Emergency housing

The neighbourhood does not have any emergency housing.
2.1.3 Heritage
2.1.3.1 Patrimony
The Viscose neighbourhood’s heritage is the fact of having been an example of the garden estate
and workers’ estate, and for this reason deserves to be conserved.
2.1.3.2 Adaptability of the buildings

The ground floors of the buildings could be adaptable and house activities of the associative type.
2.1.3.3 Use of materials and resources
Insulation
All the buildings have external insulation. The door and window frames, which are well
waterproofed, are in PVC and include double-glazing. The floors are made of concrete slabs
insulted by projection; the roof spaces are also insulated. Thus, overall the buildings are well
insulated. However, we can note that the landing doors open onto relatively cold entrance areas and
that, although the external insulation provides a certain improvement in comfort during the summer,
it renders energy solutions which favour intermittence partially inoperative.
Energy
Electricity was chosen as a source of heating energy and this leads to major problems of
management cost: all the buildings are heated by direct electric convectors with individual
thermostats, the dilapidated state of which is, in spite of everything, acceptable. For the heating, the
total useful energy is estimated, for the whole of the Viscose estate, at 2,420 MWh/year; electrical
consumption for heating is also 2,420 MWh and the necessary power is 1,512.5 kW56.
OPAC has compared the cost of various heating and hot water supply systems.
For the whole of its available housing, in 2001, collective heating (gas, fuel oil, urban heating,
wood, etc.) has a cost which is 6.7 € / m2, of which 5.8 € for energy and 0.9 € for maintenance.
For the mixed electrical heating systems (floor + convectors), the part paid by OPAC (floor heating)
comes, for its housing facilities as a whole heated by electricity, to 6.8 € / m2 of which 6.4 € for
electricity and 0.4 € for maintenance.
The part of the consumption paid to EDF directly by the tenant is not known. It is normally a third
of the electricity cost for floor heating, i.e. 2.1 €. In the present case, because of the low incomes of
households living in the housing units, OPAC adopts the hypothesis that this part is only 20%, i.e.
1.3 €. In total, the cost of electric heating turns out 21% dearer than collective central heating, i.e.
8.1 € / m2 and provides less comfort.
The gas heating system in the Cèdres building is an illustration of these differences in cost. Heated
by natural gas, the heating costs for the 16 OPAC housing units is 5.7 € / m2 of which 4.3 € for
energy and 1.4 € for maintenance.
56
Figures provided by OPAC 38, for 2001
CSTB - LA CALADE 76
The cost of converting from electricity to a fossil fuel energy source (several alternative energy
solutions are possible: natural gas, collective gas per building, urban heating, gas central heating
and wood central heating) has been estimated by OPAC at 4,880 € per housing unit.
Each housing unit has its own production of household hot water by electric hot water storage tank,
generally in good condition. In total, the consumption of hot water for household purposes is
11,973.5 m3, the total useful energy 870.3 MWh, the production return 0.8, the distribution return 1
and the electric energy used is 1,087.9 MWh57.
Ventilation
Ventilation is natural, with air inlets in the window and doorframes. It could be improved, for we
often note mould as well as flaking paintwork in humid rooms. These deteriorations may also be a
result of the current heating costs, which act as a brake on consumption leading to reductions in
temperature in certain rooms and draft proofing of the ventilation inlets.
2.1.4 Quality of life
2.1.4.1 Internal quality and comfort

The housing units on the estate must undergo improvement work which relates to58:
- Heating (Cf. above);
- Security: landing doors, entrances halls at Les Cèdres, front doors of the buildings, making
the cellars secure;
- Comfort and enhancement: treatment of base courses, renovation of concrete stairways,
closure of aging roofs, renovation of floors and ceilings.
2.1.4.2 Cleanliness and waste
Vandalism
At the beginning of 2001, an increase in acts of vandalism and, consequently, cost, was noted
(97,000 francs, i.e. around 1,510 euros just for the cost of insuring against vandalism).
Waste
To promote waste management, actions aimed at informing the population and raising their
awareness, have been carried out, as have actions to raise awareness regarding the gardens.
The Viscose neighbourhood has 5 well distributed glass collection points.
2.1.4.3 Security
A feeling of insecurity is frequently expressed by the inhabitants on the subject of access to the
neighbourhood, traffic and lighting: creation of a bypass, signposting of the neighbourhood,
improvement of lighting, development of “wild” spaces59.
2.1.5 Social link

The neighbourhood has progressively lost its identity because of the transformation of
activities and the reduction in the number of workers in the town.
However, this neighbourhood remains strongly left wing (70% for left wing candidates in the
European elections in 1999) and gives strong support to local power (66% of votes expressed for
left wing candidates in the municipal elections in 1995 in the neighbourhood).
57
Source OPAC 38, 2001 figures
58
Jarillot, 2002
59
Jarillot, 2001
CSTB - LA CALADE 77
2.2 Non-residential built spaces

2.2.1 Diversity
The Viscose estate today is made up solely of housing units. In the past, since its creation up until
the 60s, the centre of the estate was occupied by two neighbourhood shops. Their disappearance, as
well as that of the factory, has deprived the neighbourhood of any kind of mix.
In the area, the Viscose Estate is situated at the centre of the western sector of Echirolles which
brings together:
- Three areas of activity:
o To the north the Rondeau commercial estate;
o To the east the fringe between Jean Jaurès and the railway line undergoing
transformation;
o A plot of wasteland along the A48 motorway;
- An NA zone important for the development of the neighbourhood:
o The Navis / Rondeau space to the north, including a wooded area which may serve
as a buffer zone.
2.2.1.1 Public amenities

The Viscose neighbourhood has no structure for receiving the public. It lacks the development
and identification of public spaces.
A crèche situated to the east of the neighbourhood accommodates only three children from the
estate; this establishment accommodates only 24 children in all, the majority of whom come from
the western neighbourhoods. It does not seem to be sufficient to meet needs, given a major renewal
of the youngest part of the population (each age group in the Viscose neighbourhood numbers
around 16 boys or girls...). Because of this, nursery assistants living in the neighbourhood are
numerous (6 in the neighbourhood and 8 in the immediate vicinity)60.
The western sector has a Post Office and an annex to the town hall as well as a sports facility, but
these amenities are quite a way from Viscose; a brass band club can also be found in the east but it
is little used; there is also a multipurpose hall, near the Pablo Picasso School, but it is quite a way
from the Viscose estate.
The western sector is relatively well provided with pavement amenities.
But we note nevertheless that the northwest, particularly around the Viscose estate, is rather
disadvantaged, with only one double telephone kiosk in the centre of the estate and no cash
dispensers, public toilets or letter boxes, amenities which are accessible only with difficulty, even
outside the estate61.
2.2.1.2 Educational establishments

Overall, the neighbourhood is well served with two schools less than 500m from the neighbourhood
and a secondary school less than a km away.
As for nursery schools, there are three in the sector. During the academic year 2000-2001, the Jean
Jaurès School, to the northeast, accommodating 34 children, and the Vaillant Couturier School, to
the east, accommodating 6 (the Casanova school, to the south-east, does not affect any children
from the estate).
Children from the estate attend two primary schools: the majority attend the Jean Jaurès School
(42 children) but six attend the Vaillant Couturier School. The Jean Jaurès School is saturated and
thus poses the problem of a possible overhaul of the school map.
The Pablo Picasso Secondary School is situated to the south of the Viscose estate and is attended by
32 of its children. No transport is available to allow them to get to their establishment more easily.
60
EGSU, par. 7.4.2
61
EGSU, par. 6.6.1
CSTB - LA CALADE 78
It should be noted that, in 2000-2001, this school accommodated only 348 pupils but has an initial
capacity of 1,200…
One may therefore think that it has quite a negative image and that the pupils who have the chance
would enrol in other establishments, further away from their homes or for which they have to pay.
The eastern sector is in an Educational Priority Network (R.E.P.) and the general under-
attendance facilitates taking on difficult classes. Developments, such as schoolyards and the
creation of multimedia facilities and a library, as well as the development necessary for pre-school
facilities for children under three years of age, have yet to be processed62.
NB: baccalaureate success in the sector is greatly inferior to that of the rest of the conurbation. The
recorded rates of academic shortfall bear witness to certain difficulties of access to knowledge and
the insertion of young people into the cycle of academic success.
2.2.1.3 Sporting, cultural and leisure facilities

Sporting, cultural and leisure facilities are more or less absent in the Viscose neighbourhood, where
we can note only one small open-air sports facility to the west. The inhabitants of Viscose have to
travel quite considerable distances to access sporting, cultural or leisure structures.
In effect, sporting facilities are quite numerous in the western sector but relatively isolated and
difficult to get to. In addition, certain sections of the municipal sports school have had to be closed
subsequent to a considerable fall in frequentation63. The gymnasium currently frequented the most
in the neighbourhood is that of the Marcel David School, in the centre of the neighbourhood of La
Luire, to the southeast of Viscose. New demand has appeared amongst children of 4 to 6 years of
age.
On the other hand, demand emerged during the Echirolles West workshops for the creation of
fitness trails and walks enabling the Parc Géo-Charles to the north to be linked with the Viscose
neighbourhood, using wasteland or the banks of the Drac.
Areas for playing boules, quite well integrated into the neighbourhood, are used a great deal. The
most accessible to the inhabitants of Viscose is that which is situated to the north, at the other side
of the Rue Roger Lauraine.
The municipality plans to renovate the Pablo Picasso School, subsequent to the problems described
above. This renovation will be the chance to free up space for the creation of a leisure centre, which
will nevertheless have the disadvantage, once again, of being isolated and not easily accessible.
The Pablo Picasso Youth and Culture Club (M.J.C.) is not easily accessible to the neighbourhood as
a whole and, for the most part, accommodates young people living nearby. Because of its distance
from the estate, very few inhabitants of Viscose frequent it: only nine in 2000, six of whom for the
Futsal activity (indoor football).
Children’s games and open areas are rare64 and scattered throughout the western sector, which has
only three play areas for children, only one of which, in the Parc Géo Charles, is close to Viscose
but little used because of the park’s lack of accessibility. The western sector also has two open-air
facilities, an unusable BMX track and two free ball games fields for a population of around 2,000
children. Aside from one open-air facility, these amenities are relatively too far from the Viscose
neighbourhood to be used by its inhabitants.
We can also note cultural facilities in the sector, none of which is situated in Viscose and is little
frequented by the inhabitants: the Viscose museum, to the north of the estate, the Ponatière library
and cinetheatre, to the south-east, the Géo Charles museum, to the south, and the “Urban Culture”
centre, further to the south.
As for the social centre of La Ponatière and the crèche, they are used a great deal but have
insufficient capacity. We can note, in the area of La Ponatière (Avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier) the
coexistence of various facilities, but advantage is not necessarily taken of this proximity.
62
EGSU, par. 6.1
63
Workshop no. 3, page 5: parents are sending their children to clubs more frequently.
64
Workshop no. 3, page 7
CSTB - LA CALADE 79
Few public halls allow associations and inhabitants to meet and this insufficiency makes itself
particularly felt in the Viscose neighbourhood, which is quite a way from these structures. To make
up for this deficit, the youth hostel and schools regularly loan out their halls.
2.2.1.4 Shops
Up until the 1960s, the Viscose neighbourhood was the real centre of the western sector but, with
the closure of the Viscose factory and the shops, it became a dormitory estate where only a few
activities, such as barbecues in public spaces or the tilling of vegetable gardens, continued, these
having also lost their vitality.
The closest shopping facilities are those situated at the other side of the Résidence Jean Jaurès to the
east of Viscose, the shopping centre based at the other side of the “Les Bayards” centre, further
away, to the south-east, and above all the Comboire centre, separated from the Viscose
neighbourhood by the A 48 motorway and very badly accessible for pedestrians, to the west (but
easily accessible by car).
Development projects envisage the creation of activities in Viscose, i.e. at Atlas, Merlon, or
Place des Commerces. A neighbourhood shopping project is also envisaged, i.e. at the Place
des Commerces, the Intersection or the Hangar65.
Economic activities
The Viscose neighbourhood has no economic activity. Furthermore, “high urban value activities”66,
like hotels, restaurants, tradesmen or certain shops, remain confined to the Comboire centre.
Projects may see the light of day in the area of the Viscose estate, taking advantage of the motorway
exits and the presence of green spaces, which would further enhance the neighbourhood’s
attractiveness (we can consider specifically the Paul Vaillant Couturier axis on condition that
problems of movement and traffic congestion are also resolved).
2.2.1.5 Medical professions

The north and west of the western sector, including the Viscose estate, are largely under-equipped
with medical and paramedical establishments, which are grouped entirely in an east-south-east
“band”, mainly close to the Avenue Danielle Casanova and around the Manhès – Jaurès shopping
centre. In this “band” we can note ten general practitioners, seven specialists, six nurses, seven
dentists and three health centres (laboratories, radiology centres, etc.)67.
2.2.1.6 Accommodation, restaurants, cafés

A single hotel exists in the western sector, located in the Comboire centre. A youth hostel also
allows tourists to be accommodated in the very heart of the western sector, to the east of the
Viscose estate.
As for cafés and restaurants, none exist close to Viscose. At quite a distance into the western sector,
we find very varied types of restaurants, two cafeterias, a large collection of collective restaurants, a
few cafés, which essentially affect a local population for the most part and brasseries, which, on the
other hand, operate largely with the population of neighbouring offices, businesses and shops and
therefore handle a clientele from a much larger perimeter than that of the neighbourhood.
2.2.1.7 Heritage buildings

The historic heritage is essentially concerned by the presence of the Viscose museum, which traces
the history of the factory and the estate, which is, to some extent, fulfilling for the inhabitants of
Viscose.
65
Jarillot, 2001
66
EGSU, par. 6.5
67
EGSU, par. 7.2
CSTB - LA CALADE 80
2.2.2 Integration
The Viscose estate has no centres of interest on the local scale. The existing facilities – open-air
areas and an association for senior citizens – have an influence only within the neighbourhood.
2.2.3.1 Comfort, security and health

The question of security outside the school is the theme spontaneously brought up by the population
when discussing childhood in the town.
2.2.3.2 Proximity of amenities and shops

The western sector has numerous amenities and shops but rarely in the immediate vicinity of the
neighbourhood. The neighbouring shopping mall is difficult to access other than by car, which is
the preferred method of getting to amenities and shops from Viscose.
2.2.3.3 Pollution and waste

The proximity of the large areas of activity of the METRO causes daily irritations linked to the road
traffic generated, the evacuation of emissions, factory smoke, etc. and leads to air pollution.
Moreover, the fractures caused by the motorway and the ring road generate noise irritation.
2.2.4 Social link
2.2.4.1 Associations and meeting places

On the estate itself, there are only three associations with a recognised activity in the western
sector. The associative fabric is therefore relatively threadbare, as it constitutes a lack of specific
activities, especially aimed at young people. There is no neighbourhood meeting hall, which
accentuates even more the lack of things to do.
Young people are forced to travel quite far outside the estate to enjoy the activities aimed at them.
This shortfall means that, in reality, few young people from Viscose participate in such occupations.
2.2.4.2 Participation of the inhabitants, social life and governance

Regular meetings with some of the inhabitants, associations and protagonists in local daily life have
been initiated by the urban study conducted in the western neighbourhoods of Echirolles. For the
inhabitants, black marks on the subject of the security of movement persist around the Viscose
estate; they suggest making pedestrian and road exits safer and strengthening pedestrian links
from the estate to the bus services.
As for public space, the inhabitants wish the creation of new kitchen garden and the
restructuration of the existing kitchen gardens in the eastern part of the estate, and the planting of
trees. The Viscose museum, to the north of the estate, is an interesting cultural structure concerning
the history of the neighbourhood, but it is visited very infrequently by the inhabitants.
2.2.4.3 Education, childhood

For children from three to eleven years of age, the nursery and primary schools are transformed into
leisure centres during school holiday periods but, apart from this, there is no specific structure open
to the inhabitants of Viscose set aside for this purpose.
2.2.4.4 Social and interdependent economy

Allotments form an important part of the interdependent economy. Their relaunch could be a
structuring element in creating new forms of solidarity68.
68
See, for example, the autoproduction and social development programme, source: MDSL, as well as the information
dossiers from ARGO, FAPIL,…
CSTB - LA CALADE 81
2.3 Non-built spaces

2.3.1 Diversity
2.3.1.1 Relaxation and leisure areas

The Viscose neighbourhood is situated close to green spaces of quality. But the two parks are
unfortunately relatively hidden and difficult to get to.
We also note a wooded space, classified in the Zoning Regulations, in the sector of the Viscose
museum. It plays a less important role as a visual screen between the town and the motorway
intersection. The other wooded spaces have a major role as “green belt”, which is not really
exploited at the present time. The EDF overflow canal is not really usable, for the canal is
dangerous in nature due to the sudden rises in water level which may be caused; this does not,
however, take away its role as “green belt”, which has visual appeal for the neighbourhood.
Next to this green presence, we can also note a major aquatic presence in the Drac canal, which
traverses the Viscose neighbourhood from northwest to southeast, but is particularly inaccessible.
The Drac itself has been pushed back to the edge of the town by successive municipal policies and
its image has not been used at all within the framework of the development of the Comboire centre;
it nevertheless represents considerable potential for relaxation and strolling along its banks.
2.3.1.2 Planted spaces

The heavily planted and grassed spaces on the Viscose estate have a very positive impact on the
road network: “The road and its layout (plantations of rows of trees) contributes to the structure of
the space and provides it with very good legibility”69, as does the small square made during the
construction of the most recent housing units.
The relation of scale between the built and the “empty” spaces is balanced by the presence of the
planted avenue. The workers’ gardens also constitute another form of planted space but have almost
all been abandoned today70.
2.3.2 Integration
2.3.2.1 Continuity and coherence of public spaces
Public spaces in the Viscose neighbourhood are, at the present time, under private
management (OPAC 38). These spaces are all open: private roads edged with private green spaces
remain permeable spaces for the pedestrians of the neighbourhood.
Getting around inside the neighbourhood is very easy. Problems arise outside the neighbourhood,
when one tries to access the shopping centres, or even the schools, where problems of security arise.
The management of public space in Viscose also raises the question of its treatment; a charter of
spaces71 would enable the permeability of the territory to be conserved for pedestrians and cyclists.
2.3.2.2 Entrances to the neighbourhood
The western entrance from Echirolles, strategic because of its frequentation, is penalised by the
presence of built-on wasteland at the side of the access slip road. The image given to the town is
thus very negative. The same applies for the constructed façades which present themselves for the
scrutiny of drivers on the motorway. External spaces likely to satisfy the functions of greeting and
attractiveness are characterised by poor treatment and a dilapidated state.
2.3.3 Heritage
2.3.3.1 Patrimony
The patrimonial interest of the western sector rests chiefly on elements referred to as natural, with
certain very attractive spaces. The squares, on the other hand, lack attractiveness because of their
69
EGSU, par. 3.2.1
70
Aktis, page 2
71
Aktis, page 9
CSTB - LA CALADE 82
cold, impersonal and unwelcoming nature. The green heritage of the sector is quite varied, with its
classified wooded spaces, its kitchen gardens and its parks.
The Viscose neighbourhood is also a green heritage which it would be appropriate to conserve and
enhance: the image of the neighbourhood resides in its stretches of lawn and trees.
The theme of the garden can be set out in various ways within the neighbourhood and could become
an additional element of attractiveness.
2.3.3.2 Management of resources
Management of space
The Viscose garden estate occupies an area of 14 hectares on which there are 362 housing units
representing a total surface area of 23,260 m2 (with dependences). The Land Occupation
Coefficient is estimated at 0.17, which is markedly equivalent to a residential estate72.
There is therefore space available for future densification, which has already been the subject of
preliminary considerations73, leading to construction, demolition / construction projects, concerning
the habitations and associative or commercial activities. Several development projects have been
suggested.
Wasteland
We note a major amount of wasteland in the entire western sector of Echirolles: these form a more
or less continuous contour and thus surround almost the entire habitat. Some of these waste areas
are available for construction and may in this sense constitute a real estate opportunity. The Viscose
neighbourhood has two waste areas and also has several waste areas nearby.
2.3.4.1 Accessibility to green spaces

The public green spaces are well distributed in the western sector and are of varying sizes, but
they are barely accessible, particularly for the inhabitants of the Viscose estate74.
The development of the western sector must favour the movement of pedestrians and cyclists
from Viscose to these parks.
Accessibility by car raises the problem of parking in the adjoining neighbourhood.
2.3.4.2 Signposting and comfort
Quality of the pavements

At the very heart of the Viscose estate, routes are made very attractive by the context which borders
them, and the road framework has a very positive impact, with a good planted structure: the road
and its enhancements (plantations of rows of tree) contribute to the structure of the space and
provide it with very good legibility. The relation of scale between the built and non-built spaces is
balanced by the presence of the planted avenue.
On the other hand, we can note large voids and unkempt spaces around the estate, to the east, south
and southwest.
2.3.4.3 Natural hazards

The town of Echirolles is subject to the hazard of torrential rises in water level, these hazards
being, of course, greater in the western neighbourhoods because of the proximity of the Drac. These
neighbourhoods could suffer damage linked to the breach of dams situated upstream of the
watercourse.
72
Fouchier, 1997, page 33
73
Aktis, 2002 and Jarillot, 2001
74
Workshop no. 1, page 6
CSTB - LA CALADE 83
2.3.5 Social link

Green spaces are numerous but too underused by the inhabitants of Viscose. Improvement work for
pedestrian and cycle tracks is also to be achieved.
2.4 Infrastructures and networks

2.4.1 Diversity
2.4.1.1 Modes of getting around
Walking:
The Viscose estate has a road network which allows one to walk around safely within the
neighbourhood. By the same token, the neighbourhood includes numerous pedestrian areas.
However, certain pavements ought to be constructed or extended, particularly along the canal
(Quais Jean Faure and Paul Rèche in particular75). On the other hand, walking is difficult at night.
Cycle tracks:
In the framework of the contract of getting around with the METRO, the cycle tracks ought to offer
sufficient continuity from Echirolles to Grenoble. The Viscose estate is particularly neglected,
with the total absence of a secure site reserved for bicycle traffic. A development scheme for
cycle tracks should be drawn up for Viscose, which would allow the connection with the network of
cycle tracks.
Public transport:
The Viscose estate is very disadvantaged, as it is not situated in any zone of influence of a bus stop
(in a radius of 200 metres). The installation of a public transport service is envisaged, which could
facilitate inter-neighbourhood and inter-town exchange.
2.4.1.2 Roads and traffic

The discontinuity of genuinely public roads and of those which, despite their actual use as public
roads, remain in the private or parapublic sector, is a particularity of the neighbourhood and
constitutes a sore point, since it is the source of inhabitants’ discontentment.
Moreover, the EDF overflow canal isolates the Viscose estate and puts it in a somewhat reclusive
situation. In addition, no through roads are often present in the neighbourhood, revealing a network
which aims to protect certain residential sectors from traffic.
2.4.2 Integration
2.4.2.1 Management of space
The problem of the western sector

The western sector is first of all cut off from the rest of the town by two main axes, which run
parallel and contiguous, practically following a direct north-south line (including the railway line).
No main roads traverse the sector from one part to another despite the presence of numerous roads
creating a succession of crossroads along the Cours Jean Jaurès. All the transversal roads come to a
dead end. Only the roads outside the neighbourhood really effect a crossing but thereby strengthen
the impression of impenetrable isolation in the western neighbourhoods, which are surrounded by
roads.
75
Aktis 2001, page 54
CSTB - LA CALADE 84
3. SUMMARY PER OBJECTIVE AND TARGET FOR

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The issue of sustainable development in the Viscose neighbourhood will be drawn up on the basis
of an analysis of the various targets and objectives of sustainable development.
Follow-up indicators will also be drawn up on the basis of each objective and target of sustainable
development which we identified at the very start of the study, in a generic manner, as these are the
major preoccupations for the sustainable development of a neighbourhood.
Based on this analysis per target, the main issues of the neighbourhood and the pertinent indicators
of sustainable development will be retained to implement an action follow-up policy.
The five objectives of sustainable development and the 21 targets defined in the framework of the
HQE2R project will be the driving force behind the diagnosis and they will be used to draw up the
system of indicators.
3.1 Objective: To preserve and enhance heritage

Target 1: To reduce energy consumption and improve energy management
Reducing energy consumption in order to reduce its cost is an important issue for the inhabitants.
In Viscose, the available housing units constitute the main buildings, and energy consumption,
along with the expense of housing units as a whole on the Viscose estate, could be monitored. It is
also important to pinpoint actions which favour future energy sources, which are renewable energy
sources.
Target 3: To avoid land consumption and improve land management
Consumption and Management of land

- Wasteland: In order to limit urban sprawl and conserve biodiversity, it is necessary to save space.
Using abandoned and waste areas must be a major preoccupation for sustainable land use. New
buildings could be constructed on rehabilitated waste land or sites previously polluted and
decontaminated. Other uses are possible for sport, leisure, etc.
- Land occupation: An analysis of town planning documents and planning permission should allow
us to evaluate to what extent prescriptions are made to favour the following targets:
- The conservation of heritage: natural, architectural, historic, archaeological, etc.;
- Energy savings;
- Saving and quality of water;
- The use of local materials or secondary (recycled) raw materials;
- Waste management;
- The consideration of natural elements in construction (orientation, landscape, urban
morphology, etc.);
- The adaptability of processes and choices.
3.2 Objective: To improve the quality of life

Target 7: To increase the levels of education and job qualification
Primary and secondary school: The baccalaureate success rate in the sector is greatly inferior to
that of the conurbation as a whole. The recorded rates of academic shortfall bear witness to certain
difficulties of access to knowledge and the insertion of young people into the cycle of academic
success. Absenteeism at the secondary school could be monitored.
Target 10: To improved safety and risk management
CSTB - LA CALADE 85
Safety: Road safety at the entrances to the neighbourhood is a necessity.
Risk management: The Viscose neighbourhood is concerned by the risk of torrential downpours,
this problem being limited by the protection offered by the Drac dyke.
3.3 Objective: To improve diversity

Target 14: Maintain or ensure the diversity of the population.
Social and economic diversity

The Viscose neighbourhood is marked by a concentration of families in difficulty or with low
incomes. However, the populations now moving to the Viscose estate are not very different from
those moving into OPAC housing as a whole.
Although a greater mix is desirable, it is doubtless in the status of the housing unit. The Viscose
estate is a neighbourhood of social housing units, and diversity must be sought at this level:
diversify the kind of housing units available.
Intergenerational diversity
The Viscose neighbourhood has a relatively young population in relation to that of Echirolles as a
whole and distribution by age does not constitute a specific issue for the neighbourhood.
Target 15: To maintain or ensure the diversity of functions.

The Viscose neighbourhood has become simply a residential area and the absence of shops and
activities contributes largely to the isolation of the neighbourhood and the dominant role of the car.
Improvement projects must seek to integrate new shops or new activities.
Diversity of local public facilities and public amenities

This diversity does not exist on the Viscose estate. Public facilities in the area are necessary; for
example:
- A nursery or primary school;
- A post office;
- A public amenities office (with one or more decentralised municipal amenities).
Diversity of open public spaces

In Viscose, green spaces are an undeniable asset and two issues can be put to the fore:
- One concerns the maintenance of the permeability of the neighbourhood for
pedestrians; the proposed residentialisation must not effect the quality of existing
pedestrian thoroughfares;
- The second is to maintain the quality of the green spaces – landscape quality and quality
of use – with the formalisation of kitchen gardens, the quality of private gardens, etc.
Target 16: To maintain or ensure the diversity of housing supply

At the present time, the Viscose estate has 100% social housing units, which only makes the
neighbourhood a space where the social mix is by definition very limited. Diversifying the kind of
housing units available is therefore an important issue.
3.4 Objective: To improve integration

Target 17: To favour the accessibility of the population to all services and facilities of the city
by means of easy and not expensive transportation mode
Target 18: To improve the integration of the neighbourhood in the city
CSTB - LA CALADE 86
Target 19: To prevent unwanted movements and to improve the environment-friendly

infrastructure of mobility
Modes of low impact traffic and public transport: In Viscose, the problem of walking is to make
the exits from the neighbourhood safe. For two-wheelers, it is the connection to the network of
existing cycle tracks; finally, for public transport, it is the access to bus stops for the two routes
which allow travel to the centre of Echirolles and to the centre of Grenoble respectively.
Conditions of movement in the neighbourhood: In Viscose, the problem arises particularly along
the banks of the canal, which can be used as the main pedestrian route out of the neighbourhood.
4. REFERENCES
[ALGOE, 2000] – ALGOE Consultants, Grenoble Alpes Métropole Dossier de candidature au PIC
URBAN - Version finale (1) du projet URBAN, 24 octobre 2000
[Aktis, 2002] - AKTIS Architecture et Urbanisme et PAYSAGE plus, Etude urbaine -
Neighbourhoods Ouest d'Echirolles sector nord, juin 2002
[Ateliers 2001] – Ville d'Echirolles - Mission politique de la Ville - Vie des neighbourhoods,
Comptes-rendus des ateliers de concertation du Neighbourhood Ouest, janvier / février 2001
[EGSU, 2001] - Ville d'Echirolles - Service Politique de la Ville, Echirolles Neighbourhood Ouest
- Etude générale sociale urbaine, janvier 2001
[Fouchier, 1997] – Vincent FOUCHIER, Les densités urbaines et le development durable, Ed.
SGVN
Grenoble Actu, site internet de la Ville de Grenoble, 5 août 2002
[HERVE, 2001] - Les temps de la ville. Rapport de M. Edmond Hervé, Député-Maire de Rennes ,
19 Juin 2001
[I.N.S.E.E. RGP 99 ] – I.N.S.E.E., Recensement Général de la Population, mars 1999, données par
îlot, juin 2002
[JARILLOT, 2001] – Véronique JARILLOT, OPAC 38, Un projet d'ensemble à la Cité Jardin-
Viscose, 31 janvier 2001
[OPAC 38, 2002] –Véronique JARILLOT, Données sociales, juin 2002
[OPAC 38, 2001] – OPAC 38, La Cité Viscose Echirolles - Etude énergétique rapport définitif
réalisé par Ingévalor, 20 mars 2001
[OSBERG] – Lars OSBERG , Sustainable Social Development. Halifax, N.S. : Department of
Economics, Dalhousie University.
[STEINER, 1997] - Georges STEINER, « L’homme invité de la vie », Colloque Ethique et
Environnement, 19/12/1996, Documentation Française, 1997
Ville d'Echirolles - Synthèse des orientations, Désenclavement et requalification du neighbourhood
ouest Luire/Viscose, novembre 1999
[WACKERNAGEL, 1995] - Mathis WACKERNAGEL et William REES. Our Ecological
Footprint : Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Gabriola Island, B.C. New Society Publishers.
November 1995.
CSTB - LA CALADE 87
HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"CROCETTA-CORNAGGIA"
NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of CINISELLO BALSAMO
ICIE
Antonella Grossi ICIE
Matteo Gualandi ICIE
Sandra Mattarozzi ICIE
European Union
ICIE 88
CONTENTS
SCOPE OF THE SD DIAGNOSIS....................................................................................... 90
1. THE CITY OF CINISELLO BALSAMO ....................................................................... 90
2. NEIGHBOURHOOD CHARACTERISTICS................................................................. 91
2.1. Population ................................................................................................................... 91
2.2. Housing ....................................................................................................................... 92
2.3. Equipment and services ............................................................................................ 92
2.4. Economic activity ...................................................................................................... 92
2.5. Parks and gardens ...................................................................................................... 92
2.6. Roads and traffic ........................................................................................................ 93
2.7. Polarity, attraction ..................................................................................................... 93
2.8. Environment ............................................................................................................... 93
2.9. Social life .................................................................................................................... 94
3. NEIGHBOURHOOD POTENTIAL (STRONG POINTS) ........................................... 94

3.1. Residences and residents .......................................................................................... 94
3.2. Non-residential built-up spaces ............................................................................... 94
3.3. Infrastructures (networks and mobility) and users ................................................ 94
4. NEIGHBOURHOOD MALFUNCTIONS (PROBLEMS OR WEAK POINTS) ........ 95

4.1. Residences and residents .......................................................................................... 95
4.2. Non-residential built-up spaces ans users .............................................................. 95
4.3. Non-built-up spaces and users ................................................................................. 95
4.4. Infrastructures (networks and mobility) and users ................................................ 95
5. MAIN STAKES FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD......................................................... 95

5.1. To integrate and connect the fragmented and isolated areas ............................... 95
5.2. To improve the quality of the urban environment (public open spaces) ............ 96
5.3. To improve the accessibility of services ................................................................ 96
6. UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS ......................................................................................... 96
ICIE 89

The aim of the diagnosis was general evaluation of the “sustainability” of the neighbourhood by
analysis of the “indisputable” indicators relating to the 21 SD – targets and specific evaluation of
sustainability aspects relating to the local objectives viewed as priorities by the authority upstream
from the diagnosis.
The priority objectives identified in the preliminary phase are:
• Improvement of the urban quality
- To improve the local public transport system towards a sustainable mobility.
- To rehabilitate open air spaces and in particularly the areas resulting from laying the highways
underground.
- To improve the accessibility to public services.
• Improvement of social and cultural quality
- To improve citizen safety.
- To promote citizen participation in public matters and in particular in the problems about the
growth and the development of the city.
- To increase cultural opportunities and entertainment.
• Improvement of architectonic and urban environment quality
- To define a sustainable plan with particular reference to design, construction and rehabilitation
of public and private open air spaces.
- To improve environment quality.
1. The City of Cinisello Balsamo

The territory of Cinisello Balsamo, which is a town of 73.087 inhabitants situated in the northern
part of the Milan hinterland, appears today as a dense urban environment, not very homogeneous
and crossed by several infrastructure barriers.
The recent territorial and economical development passed through the chaotic and tumultuous
increase registered in the 70s arriving at a more specific and a multifaceted growth; in such a
situation the urban renovation policies and the control objectives for human and productive
settlements must be orientated towards a sustainable development perspective, to emphasise
territorial, cultural and historical values.
These objectives have directed the municipality actions of recent years, towards the rehabilitation of
large parts of the town, with a new Master Plan focused on these themes.
The new Master Plan has been orientated towards a better accessibility and an articulated system of
green areas and public facilities. The creation of a new public transportation line, (the recently
financed Metrotranvia) that connects the city centre with Porta Garibaldi Station in Milan, will
make the town centre accessible not only to local inhabitants, but also to more numerous users,
attracted by the increased speed of public transportation.
Through a network of cycle lanes, urban parks and wide neighbourhoods new connections will be
created towards the urban “heart” formed by historic villas and ancient agricultural complexes
(courts), bound to public use. In the aims of the new plan, these areas are expected to become
primary landmarks for the local community.
Cinisello Balsamo Local Authorities has already chosen the path of sustainable development, aware
of the role that local bodies can play and has approved an agreement with the Milan northern local
authorities for the carrying out of Agenda 21.
ICIE 90
Furthermore Cinisello Balsamo has been recognised by the Italian Minister of the Environment who
awarded it the 1999 Premio for Urban Sustainability, which is reserved for all towns that are
capable of showing they are applying and abiding by environmental policies and rules as well as the
prize for “ Sustainable town for children” for the years 1998 and 1999.
The Report on the State of the Environment, after having highlighted the critical points of the 9
themes that the report is divided into, according to available official data, has carried out a survey
into citizen satisfaction levels and as a result the priorities to work on.
The priorities are:
• Safety and security
• urban environment quality
• job opportunities
• quality standard, availability and cost of housing
Further specifities and objectives of the city are:
• Between ’50 and ’70 the high density urban development generated unsustainable urban sprawl:
the city intends to promote urban renovation policies and to regenerate local identity
• The quality of open air spaces is very low: the municipality intend to adopte sustainable
technical solutions for the rehabilitation of public open air spaces.
• The city is cut by different strong barriers (a highway, high traffic roads): the city need to define
sustainable upgrading model to solve this physical and social fragmentation
2. Neighbourhood characteristics
The «Crocetta-Cornaggia» neighbourhood:
• Population: 13.240 inhabitants in 2001 (18,11 % of the population of Cinisello Balsamo)
• Surface: 1,3 km2
• Housing units: 4.832 (apartments), including 165 social housing units .
The neighbourhood comprises an area bounded by major roads (the Viale Fulvio Testi and the A4
Milan-Venice Motorway), and an area between the Viale Fulvio Testi and the boundary of Sesto
San Giovanni municipality.
The neighbourhood comprises buildings dating from the 1950s and 1970s. It appears as dense,
disorderly urbanisation crossed by a great barrier (Viale Fulvio Testi) that separates the two parts
both physically and socially. Even today the two parts do not communicate. The inhabitants of
Cinisello who live between the Fulvio Testi road and the border of Sesto San Giovanni feel
themselves to be part of the Sesto San Giovanni community.
2.1 Population
The neighbourhood has 13,240 inhabitants, 18.11 % of the total population of the city.
The most distinctive aspect of the neighbourhood is the large number of foreigners who, according
to ISTAT data for 2001 amount to for 68.46 % of the total living in the city. An aspect closely
correlated with the notable presence of foreigners (in particular non EU citizens) is the low cost of
housing and forms of sub-letting that are not declared officially but are nevertheless known.
Another particular characteristic is the large number of people living but not legally resident in the
neighbourhood and engaged in commercial, industrial and services activities in Milan and its
hinterland, areas that are well connected to the neighbourhood by major highways (Viale Fulvio
Testi and the Milan-Venice motorway).
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Another significant aspect is the high rate of turnover of the population. Many of its inhabitants live
in the area for a few years and then more to more attractive parts of the city (better urban and
building quality).
2.2 Housing
There are 4.832 dwellings in the neighbourhood (16,33 % of the city total), of which 165 are social
housing owned by the municipality and the ALER.
The quality of the buildings is rather poor. They date from the chaotic development that took place
in the ‘fifties and ‘seventies and are tower blocks over 5 storeys high.
Most of the housing has not been maintained (lack of maintenance culture).
The housing blocks have very little parking space and an almost total absence of their own
greenery: grounds are almost always tarred and used for car parking.
It should be pointed out that, in view of all the above aspects, housing in the neighbourhood costs
less than in any other part of the city and about 30-40% less than in the most costly and attractive
central areas.
In terms of quantity, the neighbourhood has an excellent supply of both “neighbourhood” public
services (kindergartens, primary schools, lower and upper middle schools, welfare facilities, and
social and cultural facilities) and urban “general interest” facilities (sports facilities, hospital).
Notwithstanding this provision, there is a very severe and much felt problem of access to these
services created by the major highways that cut the neighbourhood into mutually inaccessible areas.
There is a substantial amount of commercial and wholesale activity in the neighbourhood,

concentrated along Viale Fulvio Testi, which is easily accessed by motorists. These businesses
attract customers from outside the neighbourhood and exploit the fronts of the buildings in which
they are housed as “shop windows”.
There are few production activities that draw workers from outside the neighbourhood.
The establishment of commercial and production activities in the neighbourhood is obstructed by its
inhabitants as it is seen as a source of further deterioration, on the grounds that it brings more
vehicle traffic and the noise and air pollution it creates.
The most striking characteristic is the lack of retail trade, with the result that most of those living in
the neighbourhood have to travel outside it to do their shopping and have to use their cars because
of the need to cross the physical barriers created by the major highways.
An exception is represented by those living in the northern area near the underpass on Viale Fulvio
Testi. They can reach the supermarket to the west, on the other side of the highway, on foot.
The provision of public parks and gardens is decidedly poor in terms of both quantity and
distribution. The total figure looks misleadingly good, being increased by the inclusion on the edge
of the neighbourhood of a substantial part of the North Milan Park, an “urban” park located
peripherally and difficult for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to use because of the difficulty of
reaching it on foot or by bicycle.
It should be pointed out that the Caldara Park (recently improved) situated to the north and outside
the neighbourhood but close to the overpass across the Milan-Venice motorway, can be reached on
foot and is therefore a public green area much used by the people of the neighbourhood.
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As for private gardens and greenery, most of the housing has very little greenery of its own and the
grounds are almost entirely tarred or paved and used for car parking.

The neighbourhood is characterised by the presence of two major highways that classify it as a
“transit zone” with very heavy vehicle traffic:
• The Milan-Venice motorway, which constitutes the northern boundary of the neighbourhood
• Viale Fulvio Testi which connects Monza and the north Milan hinterland to Milan city dividing
the neighbourhood along its south-east – north-west axis.
In addition to these major highways, Via Stralingrado, connecting the “central areas” of Cinisello
north of the motorway with the peripheral zones close to the border with the municipality of Sesto
S. Giovanni further divides the neighbourhood on a north-south line.
If one excludes these major highways, the neighbourhood has a road network of medium
dimensions used by local vehicle traffic (circulation within the neighbourhood).
The supply of public parking is much less than needed by the inhabitants who, in the almost
complete absence of parking or garages tied to the dwellings, leave their cars on the road or
pavement, in the latter case creating problems for pedestrians..
There are no pedestrian areas or exclusively pedestrian routes and no cycle tracks.
One major problem is the lack of ways to cross the major highways. If one excludes the two distant
and extremely dangerous pedestrian crossings at the two ends of Viale Fulvio Testi) the only
“protected” crossings are:
• An underpass on Viale Fulvio Testi (Viale Romagna) which the inhabitants consider unsafe and
therefore rarely use
• A pedestrian overpass on Viale Fulvio Testi to the south, near the schools
• An overpass across the Milan-Venice motorway to the Caldara Park (outside the neighbourhood
to the north).
Local public transport does not cover the area well. An extensive area in the north of the
neighbourhood (between the motorway, Viale Fulvio Testi and via Stralingrado) is completely
isolated (there is no connection to the “centre” or other parts of Cinisello) and the inhabitants travel
solely by car.
In some area of the neighbourhood there is lack of public space even for refuse bins.
There it total absence of typical urban characters.
The neighbourhood has no attractions but does have poles of interest to the rest of the city: the
hospital, the North Milan Park and the shopping centres.
2.8 Environment
There are no buildings in the neighbourhood that use renewable or high yield energy sources.
Furthermore, given the date of construction (prior to the energy saving laws) and the absence of any
extraordinary maintenance operations, the characteristics of the housing are not such as to permit
efficient energy management.
Rainwater is not collected separately from sewage in the neighbourhood, but there is a plan to do so
in future.
There are no actions planned for rehabilitation and/or new construction of sustainable buildings or
that assess external costs, such as social and environmental costs, internally.
On management and consumption of material resources, one must emphasise the lack of buildings
restructured or demolished with an approach that focuses on recycling of materials, the life cycle of
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materials and equipment, ease of maintenance etc, or that adopt construction waste disposal plans
for buildings, roads, infrastructure or open spaces.
The separate collection of domestic refuse has had excellent results (48% of refuse separated) and
is carried out door to door. The areas for separate collection are in the buildings or in their grounds.
In some areas where the buildings have no grounds at all, refuse is collected daily.

Noise pollution and air pollution are severe in the areas situated along the highways.
The ground surface is completely waterproofed.
2.9 Social life
There is a large population of foreign, mostly non-EU, origin in the neighbourhood, which is
socially well integrated.
There is a Social Education Office of the municipality in the neighbourhood, established there
specifically because of its problems. The office is particularly active in promoting training and
cultural programmes aimed at facilitating the integration of foreigners into society and the world of
work (language courses and vocational training) and in promoting multiculturalism and tolerance
(multiethnic festivals and courses).
The response of the foreign and local population has been positive, with not only general
“tolerance” but also forms of cultural “integration”.
The neighbourhood has traditionally been characterised by a rather high degree of participation by
the population in the management and administration of the territory, thanks to the work of
spontaneously created topical groups and the readiness of the inhabitants to come forward with
proposals.
However it has to be pointed out that, because of the difficulty of translating proposals and
suggestions put forward by the inhabitants into concrete action, the level of participation has been
declining steadily in recent years.
3. Neighbourhood potential (strong points)

• Plurality of cultures
• Variety in the population
• Good social integration
• Tradition of participation by the inhabitants
• Very high supply of services

• High density of non-retail commercial activity
-
• Good connections to Milan, Monza and the northern hinterland
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4. Neighbourhood malfunctions (Problems or weak points)

• Poor quality buildings

• Lack of private greenery
• Fragmentation of the neighbourhood
4.2 Non-residential built-up spaces and users
• Little retail trade
• Poor urban quality (open spaces)

• Shortage of public and private greenery
• Shortage of public open spaces
• Perception of “lack of security” by the inhabitants
• Severe lack of parking

• Difficulty of access to services
• Shortage of internal public transport
5. Main stakes for the neighbourhood

The present survey reveals five main stakes for the «Crocetta-Cornaggia» neighbourhood:
• To integrate and connect the fragmented and isolated areas
• To improve the quality of the urban environment (public open spaces)
• To improve access to services
5.1 To integrate and connect the fragmented and isolated areas
Downstream from the diagnosis, this objective is an absolute priority. The inhabitants feel isolated
from the rest of the city, ignored by the public administration and “ghettoised”.
The key problem is the presence of major highways which constitute barriers and which cannot be
eliminated. These barriers are not only physical but also social, as they impede an easy use of the
neighbourhood and its services, so that the latter are in practice under-utilised by the inhabitants.
The specific objectives are:
• To facilitate crossing of the major highways (motorway and Viale Fulvio Testi) by
pedestrians and cyclists, selecting rational points for crossing places. Such crossings should
be clearly visible, secure, protected and located where they connect to routes leading to the
poles of interest in the neighbourhood (services, retail shops, shopping centres)
• To provide a network of pedestrian and cycle routes between the poles of interest in the
neighbourhood. The network should be clearly visible, safe and protected from vehicle
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traffic. Its creation should also be one of the priorities for requalification of the open spaces
(urban environment)
• To promote connections between the areas that are currently without public transport stops,
extending the public transport network within the neighbourhood
• To promote connection to the city centre of all the areas that are currently isolated,
extending the public transport network
One possible radical solution to the barrier effect would be burying of the highways (a project
currently being evaluated by the public administration). For such a solution to be effective, the
resulting surface would have to take account of the specific objectives given above, as mistakes in
that regard could have a further adverse effects on integration of the areas.
5.2 To improve the quality of the urban environment (public open spaces)
The specific objectives relating to the quality of the urban environment are:
• To modify the existing public open spaces to promote areas for social aggregation in the
open
• To provide solutions that ensure and improve the perception of security by members of the
public (visibility, street lighting, cleaning, control)
• To site pedestrian routes and cycle tracks away from roads where noise and air pollution are
greatest
• To make the pedestrian routes and areas safe and secure and pedestrian and cycle routes
clearly identifiable by users.
5.3 To improve the accessibility of services
The specific objectives of accessibility of services are closely bound up with those of objective 5.1
(to integrate and connect fragmented areas) and therefore in part coincide:
• To promote connection between parts of the neighbourhood, inhabitants and services sited in the
neighbourhood, reorganising the public transport network on the basis of specific needs for
use of these services as revealed by a thorough analysis of categories of users of the services
and their transport needs.
1. How to reconcile linkage between the isolated parts of the neighbourhood with the
continuing existence of the major highways? What economic demand?
• The burial of the major roads would certainly improve the linkage between the isolated parts of
the neighbourhood but it could also lead the commercial activities along them to relocate, as the
roads give the businesses great “visibility”. The businesses use the fronts of their buildings as a
display area and therefore any technical solution must not ignore this important aspect: it must
provide a possible alternative “visibility”.
• The objective of reorganisation or extension of the public transport network (within and outside
the neighbourhood) to link its isolated parts must necessarily reconcile increases in the services
(and therefore in their cost) with the city’s transport budget. The solution developed must
necessarily take the economic aspects into account, emphasising rationalisation of the service
and of existing resources rather than just more buses and more bus stops.
2. Safety and security problem; psychological or real?
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• The local authority considers that the safety/security problem is not so much a real and objective
one supported by objective evidence and data (on theft, aggression etc) as a psychological
problem of perspective.
In view of the real distress manifested by the inhabitants, it would be advisable to conduct a
more thorough study of what aspects contribute to the perception of insecurity and then identify
modalities and measures that could contribute to reassuring the inhabitants and lessening their
concerns. In other words, it would be necessary to better understand the perception factors that
contribute to the inhabitants’ feeling of insecurity and to act specifically on them (cleaning,
decay, lighting/visibility, frequentation, control, etc.)
3. How to reconcile the lack of public and private open spaces with actions to promote
sustainable mobility on foot, by bicycle? Where to find areas for car parking? To get cars off the
roads: more parking spaces or fewer cars?
• The lack of greenery, parking and pedestrian and cycle tracks is very great, but there is almost
no available space that could be allocated to such uses.
• A car is essential in the present situation in the neighbourhood and in the territory.
• If the roads were to be buried, new surfaces areas would result that could be used for car
parking, greenery and routes connecting parts of the neighbourhood that are currently isolated.
There would still be the problem of retaining the commercial activities sited along the main
roads. It would be desirable to study and determine ways of interacting with and involving the
businesses concerned.
• Green areas require constant maintenance if they are to remain useful and usable. Such
maintenance is costly and the local authority would have to guarantee it for the future.
Alternatively, it would be necessary to find ways of either:
- Sharing the costs (for example the businesses might adopt or sponsor the upper level areas
resulting from the burial and located in front of their premises)
- Involving the inhabitants and getting them to participate.
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HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"S. LEONARDO-PORTA MULINA"
NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of MANTOVA
ICIE
Antonella Grossi ICIE
Matteo Gualandi ICIE
Sandra Mattarozzi ICIE
European Union
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CONTENTS
SCOPE OF THE SD DIAGNOSIS..................................................................................... 100
1. THE CITY OF MANTOVA URBAN SPECIFICITIES .............................................. 100
2. NEIGHBOURHOOD CHARACTERISTICS............................................................... 101

2.1. Population 101
2.2. Housing 102
2.9. Environment 103
3. NEIGHBOURHOOD POTENTIAL (STRONG POINTS) ......................................... 104

4. NEIGHBOURHOOD MALFUNCTIONS (PROBLEMS OR WEAK POINTS) ...... 105

5. MAIN STAKES FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD....................................................... 105

5.1. To conserve and exploit the architectural building heritage 106
5.2. To promote sustainable mobility and accessibility of services 106
5.3. To improve integration between the different urban areas 106
5.4. To maintain and reinforce the diversity of the population 106
6. UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS ....................................................................................... 106
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The aim of the diagnosis was general evaluation of the “sustainability” of the neighbourhood by
analysis of the “indisputable” indicators relating to the 21 SD – targets and specific evaluation of
sustainability aspects relating to the local objectives viewed as priorities by the authority upstream
from the diagnosis.
The priority objectives identified in the preliminary phase are:
• Improvement of the urban quality
- To improve the communications system promoting sustainable mobility.
- To control the environmental impact produced by traffic.
- To create a parking resort to stop private traffic at the edge of the town.
- To improve pedestrian and cycling routes, connecting the centre with the green resorts on
the lakes and the extra-urban cycling tracks.
• Improvement of social and cultural quality
- To improve the quality of life
- To stop the population moving out.
• Preservation of architectonic and urban environment quality
- To preserve the architectonic and urban quality.
- To improve the environmental quality and the «sustainability» of built space
1. The City of Mantova urban specificities

The town of Mantova is located in the central part of the Po Valley, in the middle point of two big
traffic lines: from east to west, connecting Venice and Bologna to Milan; north-south from the
Brenner Pass to Bologna.
The town, chief of its province, has now a population of less than 50,000 inhabitants; the
demographic trend of the last years shows a constant decrease, beginning in the early sixties (at the
1961 census Mantova had a population of 60,000 people). In current years, it’s impossible to see
any inversion of this trend. Recent studies for the review of the town Master Plan foresee, for the
next ten years, that the number of inhabitants will settle around 40,000 units.
In the same time, in the four municipalities of the hinterland, the population has constantly
increased, counterbalancing the decrease registered in the chief town. Considering the population of
“Great Mantova” as the sum of the five municipalities, we can think of a middle size town with a
population around 90,000/100,000 inhabitants.
This still situation is principally due to a very heavy infrastructure deficit, to a mature economical
and productive system, to a town centre that has not been able to develop its potential role of
attraction and service for the surrounding territory. In spite of these negative aspects, there have
always been qualifying and positive aspects : a unique natural environment, a historic town centre
with top cultural and artistic values, a generalised welfare and a human dimension that have always
guaranteed a high quality of life.
The economical background of Mantova has been based, till the 50’s, on agriculture and most of
human settlements around the town are scattered in the country as one can recognize from the
historical maps reproducing Mantova and its surrounding.
From 1946 the first industrial settlements are located in the area of Virgiliana, which is served by
the railway system with the Frassine goods station and can be reached by water through the Mincio
and Po rivers: the most important are an oil refinery, an oil – chemical plant and a metallurgic
mechanical industry.
The City of Mantova specificities and objectives:

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• The population of the old town centre of Mantua has fallen by 10% in the last ten years, with the
inhabitants moving to smaller centres on the other side of the lakes that surround Mantua. The
municipality intends to seek solutions and proposals for development of the old city centre that
would reverse this trend. One of the proposals is to offer high architectural and urban quality by
development of sustainability criteria applied to the neighbourhood and to the city centre; to
rehabilitate the neighbourhoods with a view to a sustainability that offers a better quality of life.
• The commuters who travel out of the city and the much greater number who commute into it,
travel mostly by car. Solving traffic problems means trying to study policies for sustainable
mobility
• The average age of the inhabitants is increasing, and a policy for a better quality of life cannot
but take account of the possibility of offering more social services for the elderly and better
access to all services, including through “sustainable rehabilitation” of urban areas (easily
accessible pedestrian routes, safer and better protected from vehicle traffic etc).
The neighbourhood “S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina” :
- Population: 2.076 inhabitants in 2002 (4,31% of the population of Mantova),
- Surface: 236.643 mq.
- Housing unit: 941 (21.213 in the City)
The S. Leonardo neighbourhood is located in the northern part of the historical centre, on the corner
formed by the superior and middle lakes surrounding the town; Porta Mulina gathers all the traffic
coming from north into the town.
Three lakes surround Mantova and three bridges connect the town with its northern and eastern
territories; all the traffic coming from north has to pass through the Porta Mulina knot.
The area examined comprises the San Leonardo neighbourhood, properly so called, comprising
minor historic building of medieval origin gravitating around the church of the same name,
extending it on one side to Piazza Virgiliana, surrounded by buildings erected in the 19th century,
and on the other side as far as Porta Mulina, an important node for entry into the city, near which
substantial demolition and reconstruction work was carried out in the post war period with the seats
of public sector organisations such as Local Health Board offices and clinics and the Geriatric
Institute, which accommodates many old people. The investigation also covered the block bordered
by Piazza d’Arco and Piazza S. Giovanni, also reconstructed in the post war period with social
housing.
Even if these areas seem structurally diverse, in fact they constitute a single community which
gravitates around the neighbourhood services (kindergarten, primary school and post office), the
green area of Piazza Virgiliana and the retail shops.
2.1 Population
The resident population of the neighbourhood is 2,076, which is 4.31% of the population of Mantua
city as a whole.
Of the 2,076 residents of the S Leonardo – Porta Mulina neighbourhood, 9.58 % are under 14 years
of age, close to the average for Mantua city as a whole (9.56%).
In contrast, 28.8% of the residents are over 64 years of age, a figure considerably higher than that
for the city as a whole (25.42%).
Another significant figure is the low percentage of employees among neighbourhood residents,
38.15 % against 59.58% for the city as a whole.
The neighbourhood has a relative high percentage of residents with ‘social minimum’ incomes, at
2.89% nearly three times that for the city as a whole (1.05%).
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The percentage of non EU citizens living in the S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina neighbourhood (6.45%)
is almost double that for the city as a whole (3.62%).
2.2 Housing
Almost 4.9% of the dwellings in the S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina neighbourhood are vacant. The
figure for the city as a whole is slightly lower at 4.36%.
The percentage of social housing in the S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina neighbourhood (17.64%)
compares with a city-wide figure of 12.03%.
The ratio between supply of and demand for social housing in the neighbourhood and the city as a
whole is similar (1.51 for S. Leonardo, 1.36 for Mantua).
Mention should be made of the presence in S.Leonardo of a former Capuchin nunnery and ex
military hospital, the current Palazzo del Mago, owned by the municipality, which currently
accommodates 84 families.
The buildings in the neighbourhood are predominantly historic buildings and considered by
municipal planning instruments as completely within the “historic zone” (Zone A) because of the
presence of buildings and features of great architectural and cultural value to be protected and
conserved.
17.07% of all buildings in the neighbourhood are subject to protection by the Superintendency of
Artistic and Architectural Assets as per national regulations (L.490/1999, ex L.1089/39).
The “degraded” dwellings in S.Leonardo amount to about 13% of the total, while poorly conserved
buildings requiring rehabilitation account for 14.068% of those present in the neighbourhood.
The presence of public services in the S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina neighbourhood is considered
satisfactory, bearing in mind that the whole population is less than 300 metres either from the
service or from a public transport stop that would allow them to reach it. The stock of open spaces
is also considered good, at 18.56 m2 per resident.
Turning to the accessibility of public building to ‘weak’ users, one finds a large number of public
buildings accessible. For the neighbourhood as a whole 74.42 % of public buildings were found to
be accessible.
There is a good endowment of public services and greenery (services situated for the most part at a
distance of less than 300 m).
The conservation status of public open spaces in the neighbourhood is considered particularly good,
with only 1.91% of public open spaces poorly conserved.
There was found to be little retail trade within the neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood includes a very large green area (Piazza Virgiliana) which amply satisfies its
demand for green areas. Piazza Virgiliana is in fact a public open space that serves not only the
neighbourhood but the entire city.

Mantua is surrounded by three lakes, and three bridges connect the town with its northern and
eastern territories; all the traffic coming from north has to pass through the Porta Mulina bottleneck.
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The neighbourhood, situated within the old city, is characterised by a web of narrow and mostly
cobbled streets. There are also a number of typical urban features to be conserved (specifically, the
cobbled streets, the historic course of the web of streets)
As regards traffic in the area, one notes that only some of the roads that traverse the neighbourhood
suffer from traffic problems (Via Porto, Via XXV Aprile, Via Finzi, Via Portazzolo, etc). The
neighbourhood as a whole is not traversed by any special flows of traffic. Traffic limitations apply
to 37% of the road surface.
On the other hand there are no bus lanes, pedestrian routes or cycle tracks, nor yet areas assigned to
facilities and spaces for cyclists.
One great pole of attraction in S. Leonardo is the great public green area of Piazza Virgiliana, one
of the large open areas used not only by the neighbourhood but by the entire city.
At present the neighbourhood is off tourist routes and little visited even by the people of Mantua
(except Piazza Virgiliana).
Because of their historical architectural interest, some private building in the neighbourhood are to
be considered potential polarities (they are not in use and in a bad state of repair).
Under the town planning instruments, the entire neighbourhood lies within a zone to be protected as
a zone of high architectural and cultural value (zone A) for which heritage protection objectives are
envisaged. S. Leonardo is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city.
All buildings must be rehabilitated and designed in compliance with rigid constraints and
prescriptions designed to protect a heritage of great historic architectural value and to conserve the
landscape and ‘visual comfort’.
There are no significant features within the neighbourhood that sully the view of the buildings or
open spaces in the urban environment.
2.9 Environment
As of today, there are no public or private buildings in the neighbourhood with installations for the
use of renewable energy, nor yet buildings that use energy produced by district heating and/or high
yield plant.
There are no actions planned for rehabilitation and/or new construction of sustainable buildings or
that assess external costs, such as social and environmental costs, internally.
There are no actions in the neighbourhood for rehabilitation or new construction of public buildings
or subsidised building that have introduced internal elements or characteristics of sustainability.
The state of conservation of the sewage system is very bad (as can also be seen from the high water
consumption in the neighbourhood, which is 154.8 m³ per person per year, against the city average
of 108 m³ per person per year, as a result of extensive leaks).
There are no buildings or open spaces in S. Leonardo that incorporate systems for rainwater use.
The public lighting system is inadequate and obsolete. Many parts of the neighbourhood are unlit.
As for the ground, 73% of the non built area is waterproofed.
Network maintenance is regular and most frequent for the drainage system (1 operation every 20
days against 1 every two months for the water and gas networks).
On management and consumption of material resources, one must emphasise the lack of buildings
restructured or demolished with an approach that focuses on recycling of materials, the life cycle of
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materials and equipment, ease of maintenance etc, or that adopt construction waste disposal plans
for buildings, roads, infrastructure or open spaces.
There are no buildings in the neighbourhood with internal space assigned to the separate collection
of refuse. On the other hand the facilities for separate collection provided on publicly owned land
can be reached by all those living in the neighbourhood.

Air quality in the neighbourhood can be considered more than satisfactory, this being due to the fact
that through vehicle traffic is limited to a small number of streets (Via Porto, Via XXV Aprile, Via
Finzi, Via Portazzolo and some others).
As for noise pollution, sound levels are not particularly high when calculated as an hourly mean
over the day. Nevertheless there are peaks caused by motor vehicles travelling over the
neighbourhood’s network of cobbled streets.
The neighbourhood is not subject to natural hazards and is not included in any of the Evacuation
Plans provided for risk areas (flooding of the lake). Equally, it is not exposed to hazardous
emissions from sources that require specific controls (the neighbourhood is particularly distant from
the Lunetta – S.Giorgio petrochemical plant).
2.10 Social life
No type of school drop-out was recorded in the neighbourhood.

The crime rate (including theft) is particularly low when compared with the city as a whole. For
Mantua as a whole, there are 1.9 crimes/inhabitant per year. in S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina only 0.6
per inhabitant per year.
There are no particular recreational or cultural activities in the neighbourhood, with the exception of
those organised by the parish. There is an absence of events that are a significant attraction (it is
only recently that activities connected with the neighbourhood’s famous Literature Festival have
been performed) and of activities that integrate the neighbourhood with adjoining communities.
3. Neighbourhood potential (strong points)

• Historical architectural heritage of great value

• High proportion of non EU residents
• Good social integration
• Near total absence of crime
• Good endowment of services
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• Good endowment of greenery (Piazza Virgiliana)

• Good endowment of services
• Good state of conservation of public open spaces
• Urban characteristics (road surfacing etc) of great historic value and greatly prized.
4. Neighbourhood malfunctions (Problems or weak points)

• High proportion of elderly inhabitants

• Depopulation of the centre
• Significant proportion of buildings that require rehabilitation
4.2 Non-residential built-up spaces and users
• Growing demand for services of assistance to the elderly

• Little retail trade
• Low percentage of employees in the neighbourhood (few economic activity in the
neighbourhood)
• Deficit of car parking for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.

• Pavements very narrow or absent, which makes the routes difficult for ‘weak’ users; paving
made of stone, which makes the routes difficult for cycling.
• Infrastructure networks are old and require frequent maintenance, especially the sewage
system.
• Street lighting old and not always adequate.
5. Main stakes for the neighbourhood
The present survey reveals 4 main stakes for the « S. Leonardo – Porta Mulina » neighbourhood:
• To conserve and exploit the architectural building heritage
• To promote sustainable mobility and accessibility of services
• To improve integration between the different urban areas
• To maintain and reinforce diversity in the population
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5.1 To conserve and exploit the architectural building heritage
The priority indicated by the diagnosis is action on the neighbourhood’s building stock to conserve
the historical architectural heritage, to prevent decay of the area and of its buildings, to reverse the
tendency for residents to abandon the neighbourhood and thus to bring the vacant dwellings in the
neighbourhood back into use.
Sustainable rehabilitation of the heritage, however, also means protection of the life of the
neighbourhood, preventing purely profit-based operations from driving out the traditional
inhabitants (exploiting value is not the same as increasing value).
5.2 To promote sustainable mobility and accessibility of services
One of the objectives is to promote the introduction of actions to promote sustainable mobility:
protection of the architectural and urban values of the neighbourhood must be integrated with
requirements for accessibility and usability of the study area by pedestrians, cyclists and ‘weak’
users..
In parallel it is necessary to reduce the private traffic from the roads crossing the neighbourhood
(Via Porto, Via XXV Aprile, Via Finzi, Via Portazzola and others), control the environmental
impacts produced, find a solution of the problem of car parking.
5.3 To improve integration between the different urban areas
In parallel with the objective of promoting accessibility of neighbourhood services, it is also

necessary to make services located in other parts of the city, but which serve the whole of it,
accessible; to identify connecting routes (pedestrian and cycle tracks) between the neighbourhood
and the meeting areas on the lakes; also, with a second order of priority, to provide for actions of a
cultural and recreational character that could transform the neighbourhood into a part of the city that
attracts non residents (as the successful events organised in the neighbourhood during the Festival
della Letteratura in 2002).
5.4 To maintain and reinforce the diversity of the population
In view of the high proportion of elderly inhabitants, and a very high concentration of immigrants,
rehabilitation actions must be found that improve the social mix in the neighbourhood by attracting
other population groups (young couples, singles etc.).
1. Which priority, rehabilitation or sustainable rehabilitation?
In view of the high value of the neighbourhood’s architectural heritage and the importance of
protecting and conserving it, we wonder whether the priority is to plan for actions aimed at
sustainable rehabilitation of buildings rather than planning for rehabilitation of the heritage as it
is, a problem in itself urgent. It has to be pointed out that sustainable rehabilitation of the
neighbourhood (actions involving all the buildings and the corresponding urban structure) involves
in the first place a much longer time span, as a result of the current regulatory, administrative and
technical situation, which is not yet in a condition to support and facilitate sustainable actions.
The following aspects must also be pointed out.
• The local regulations and planning instruments are not yet adequate for introduction of
sustainability actions (e.g. installation of photovoltaic or solar panels involves an increase in the
ICIE 106
regulatory volume of the building). An updating and integration of the various planning
instruments and regulations is required.
• Sustainable rehabilitation actions involve increased implementation costs. What advantages
can counterbalance this increase in costs? (tax incentives? Financial benefits? Simplification of
authorisation procedures? Increased market value of the property? Image benefits for promoters
of sustainable projects?
• The efficacy of private sector initiatives is subordinate to a series of public sector actions
(distribution networks, mobility system etc.). Concerted actions involving both public and
private sector are required.
• In the same way, the efficacy of sustainable rehabilitation actions is subordinated to
concertation between public and private sector (public administration, proprietors, designers,
promoters) who must agree common objectives that take account of their differing requirements
and interests.
2. Residential density: value or problem?

High housing density can certainly be considered advantageous in terms of its contribution to
energy saving (plant more concentrated, lower consumption, reduced costs and less polluting
emissions). It should also be borne in mind that high housing density in European cities has
historical and cultural significance. On the other hand, high density housing is certainly a significant
problem in terms of its effect on mobility (increased vehicle traffic in old city centres, increased
emission of polluting emissions, increased transport costs)
3. How to reconcile conservation of the historical archaeological heritage with actions that
promote sustainable mobility (on foot, by bicycle)?
There are typical elements of architectural and urban value in the neighbourhood, for which reason
it is necessary to envisage actions that may often be in conflict with one another. On the one hand, it
is necessary to facilitate mobility and accessibility, on the other there is a need for actions to
conserve and protect elements of value.
Requirements associated with mobility:
• To improve accessibility for ‘weak’ users (pavement too narrow and/or occupied by cars),
cobbled road surface not easily traversed by weak users
• To reduce the noise pollution caused by vehicles running on cobbles – the traditional, historical
road surface in the city. Which should be eliminated, the cars or the cobbles?
Requirements associated with protection of the heritage:
• To conserve the materials composing the elements of the road network
• To protect the design characteristics of the road routes typical of the historic centre (height and
width of the pavements etc.)
Is it possible to widen the pavements and/or reduce the unevenness of the cobbles without
compromising historic and aesthetic values?
4. To remove cars from the roads. Space for parking or fewer cars? Car parks to serve
residents or to serve the entire city?
• A possible solution that has been suggested is creation of an underground car park below piazza
Virgiliana. Such a park could serve residents, avoiding the need for unauthorised parking on
pavements, and also serve those who come into the city centre and currently use the car parks
located on the lake shore.
• Past experience of the building of new car parks shows that residents tend to be hostile. They
fear that new parking not for their own exclusive use brings more traffic and more pollution to
the area. The problem may perhaps be one of clarity in definition and of communication by the
Public Administration of the aims to the inhabitants.
ICIE 107
• At present there is a 3-storey car park near the historic area. It must be emphasised that some of
the space has remained unsold. Before proposing solutions it is therefore necessary to analyse
the reasons for this failure. For example:
− Is the car park too far from people’s homes
− Is there no real need for parking? (in other words, was the analysis performed before the car
park was built erroneous?)
• Could the car parking envisaged in the detailed plan for Porta Mulina (in course of adoption by
the municipality) meet the parking requirements identified in the diagnosis?
ICIE 108
HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"CIPES" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of MELEGNANO
QUASCO - COPRAT
Nicoletta ANCONA QUASCO
Daniela GABUTTI QUASCO - COPRAT
Francesco CAPRINI QUASCO - COPRAT
European Union
QUASCO - COPRAT 109

CONTENTS
2. POPULATION (TARGET 1) ......................................................................................... 113
3. ACCOMODATION (TARGET 3 AND 14)................................................................... 114
4. EQUIPMENTS AND SERVICES (TARGET 4 AND 5).............................................. 114
5. ECONOMICAL ACTIVITY (TARGET 2)................................................................... 115
6. GARDENS AND PARKS (TARGET 4) ........................................................................ 115
7. ROAD NETWORK AND TRAFFIC (TARGET 6, 17 AND 18)................................. 115
8. POLARITY, ATTRACTIVENESS (TARGET 20 AND 21)........................................ 117
9. SPACE MANAGEMENT (TARGET 9 AND 11) ......................................................... 117
10. ENVIRONMENT (TARGET 15, 16, 17, 18 AND 19)................................................. 117
11. SOCIAL LIFE (TARGET 13, 20 AND 21).................................................................. 118
12. POTENTIALS AND SUBJECTS ................................................................................. 119
13. PROJECTS AND FINAL OUTCOMES ..................................................................... 119
14. UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS ..................................................................................... 120
QUASCO - COPRAT 110

The city of Melegnano is situated in a flat area, between the southern periphery of the industrial
Milano area and the mostly agricultural territory around Lodi.
Over the years Melegnano has lost its original characteristic of a country town, becoming more a
commercial and industrial centre; the agricultural land has been transformed in both industrial and
residential areas: in 1989 the urbanised surface area represented the 56% of the total, indicating a
reality closer to that of the city of Milano (with 69% of urbanised land) than to the rest of the
Milanese area (with an average of 20%).
The Castello Mediceo is a landmark for the historical town. The construction is a typical example of
a lowlander’s castle; it was built in the Middle Ages (medieval communes) near the Lambro River,
on the border between Milano and Lodi. During the 16th century the castle became a Seigniory
residence. The first Marquis of Melegnano Gian Giacomo Medici, brother of Giovanni Angelo
Medici (future Pope Pio IV), lived in it.
Recently it was renovated and transformed into a public building for public services and activities
(there are also some precious paintings from the middle of the 16th century). Moreover the castle is
surrounded by a little public garden and by the original ditch.
The Cipes neighbourhood includes the parts of the town developed west of the Milano-Bologna
railway line, which can be considered a strong barrier between the historical nucleus of Melegnano
and the Cipes quarter.
The north-west and south-east limits of the Cipes neighbourhood, coinciding with the communal
borders, are represented by regional and national main roads (above all in the northwest, where the
highway access intersections are located). The south-western limit is constituted by a wide portion
of agricultural territory that leads right into the South Milano Park.
At the beginning of the research work, the municipality had decided to leave most of the
agricultural land out of the analysis, but in a second phase it was decided to extend the inventory to
the whole quarter, both for technical reasons (to avoid a subdivision of the data under the
dimensions of the quarter) and for the meaning that a future protection of the agricultural territory
might assume even on a small scale.
Until the end of the 50’ies the west side of the town has always been an agricultural area, or later
agricultural and industrial area (excluding some rural buildings, close to the railroad, which have
become residential buildings).
Most of the apartment buildings present in the neighbourhood were built between 1973 and 1988,
with the exception of some social housing recently built near the Parco delle Noci; the oldest ones-
built before 1963 - are located between the railway line Milano-Bologna and viale della
Repubblica.
The physical elements of greater impact, which characterize the morphology of the neighbourhood
and deserve more attention, are the already cited infrastructures: a) old railroad, b) Milano-Bologna
highway, and finally c) the high speed railway lines.
The railroad (a) separates the CIPES neighbourhood from the historical centre of Melegnano where
the most important public services are concentrated: schools, civic and medical structures. The
highway (b) though far from the residential area, should still have its impact assessed in relation to
the agricultural territory. Finally the high speed railway (c), that runs in elevation, has a great
impact on the residential areas and is inserted violently into the landscape: it cuts in two parts a
green space of which half is covered by the Parco delle Noci - a WWF protected area - and the
other half is occupied by sports resorts, with open air playing fields.
QUASCO - COPRAT 111

1 - Cadastral map, 1956
2 - City map, existing plan, 2002
QUASCO - COPRAT 112

2. Population (Target 1)
The results of the last survey undertaken in September 2002 show that the Cipes neighbourhood has
1.375 inhabitants, which represent approximately the 8,6% of the population of Melegnano (16.028
inhabitants). It is the quarter with the lowest density in the town because it includes wide
agricultural and industrial/crafts areas (like the Saronio area), with few inhabitants on an extended
territory76.
The number of inhabitants decreased strongly between 1981 and 1990, then it remained steady for
the last ten years. Currently the natural balance (difference between the born and the died) is always
negative (-7% approximately), but in the last years the total balance reached stable or even positive
values, thanks to the positive migratory balance (the new inhabitants have always exceeded the
number of those who went to live elsewhere).
Foreign immigration has become an important phenomenon only from 1996; from this date on, the
number of foreign immigrants has approached the 10% of the new in-comers. In the decade 1991-
2000 the 90% of the new inhabitants are Italian, the 6% come from foreign countries and for the
remaining 4% the origin is not classifiable. In 2000 the foreign population was the 2,32% of the
total.77
As for the age of the population the Cipes neighbourhood follows the values of the whole town: for
example the inhabitants with age inferior to 15 years are the 10,18% (against 11,38% of the city).
The more interesting datum which is different from the average of the town is that regarding the
population with more than 65 years: in Cipes it represents the 15,78% against the 21,9% of
Melegnano. Therefore we can say that the quarter is inhabited a greater number of persons in
working age than the rest of the city.
As far as the data about the inhabitants’ occupation (% of managers, unemployed, employed, etc.)
the information presently available is incomplete, but it describes a more affluence than other
neighbourhoods: clerks represents the 27,9% (19% is the city’s value), students represent 20,9%
(11,7% is the city’s value), unemployed are 0% (0,6% is the city’s value), and managers are 12,44%
(against 8,25% of the city).78
The data regarding the percentage of those who have the right to receive social minimum benefits
has been recently updated: in the neighbourhood they represent the 0,58% of the inhabitants and in
the city the 1,76%.
Both in the neighbourhood and in the city the phenomenon of scholastic shortfall does not exist
(0%).
A controversial datum regards the owners of houses in the Cipes neighbourhood: according to a
survey on a sample of inhabitants, the 95,3% of them own the houses in which they live79 (the
reported value in Melegnano is of 77,8%), but other elements make one think that the real data have
a lower value, therefore a deeper analysis should be carried out.
As a matter of fact one part of the quarter is formed by two family villas or of low density
buildings, but the blocks facing the railroad are formed by buildings with uneven typologies and
heights and it is improbable that the property houses represent such a high percentage of the total.
76
The Cipes neighbourhood’s surface is 210 hectares
77
Source: La popolazione di Melegnano in numeri by Centro Studi ALSPES, Melegnano, april 2001
78
The first three data (about clerks, students and unemployed) have been extracted from a statistical survey made by
Centro Studi ALSPES; the percentage data about managers has been extracted from Census 1991
79
Source: Rapporto sociale 2001 by Centro Studi ALSPES, Melegnano, december 2001
QUASCO - COPRAT 113
3. Accommodation (Target 3 and 14)

Currently it has not been possible to calculate exactly the number of housing units, but a reliable
estimate has been obtained by calculating the number of families living in the neighbourhood and in
the city too (562 and 6924 respectively80), considering that un-rented and/or empty units represent
an insignificant number for the aim of this research.81
We estimate that the number of housing units is 570 of which 14 are social/welfare houses (2,46%).
With regard to social housing the demand is much superior to the offer: 14 present apartments in the
quarter have already been assigned and there are still 7 demands waiting. Regarding the city the 64
available lodgings have already been assigned and there are 164 demands on a waiting list.
The 14 social houses of Cipes have been built with eco sustainable criteria.
A part of the quarter has homogenous characteristics: two family houses and mansions of four
floors above the ground; these buildings all appear to be in good conditions and well maintained. A
case apart is represented by the blocks between the Milano-Bologna railroad and viale della
Repubblica: here the buildings have different characters in relation to the state of conservation,
heights and date of construction; therefore the overall quality of this part of the neighbourhood
appears poor.
By now, we don’t foresee new constructions in the mostly residential blocks (not even where
buildings appear deteriorated), while we foresee the renewal and expansion of the industrial and
handicraft areas.
4. Equipments and services (Target 4 and 5)

The Cipes neighbourhood lacks all kinds of services inside its borders, but the distances from the
main city structures are acceptable. If we look at the worst situation (the furthest flats) the primary
school is 700 m. away and the city hall is 950 m. far, but the linear distances are lower.
In the mostly residential part of the quarter there are some retail shops and private services, which
are concentrated in the surroundings of viale della Repubblica.
As for green spaces there are an area equipped for sports activities with open air playing fields and
the Parco delle Noci, a small reserve land for the protection of the local flora and fauna.
From a wider point of view, we can say that the Cipes problem is not represented by the lack of
services, but by the fact that the neighbourhood is separated by the railroad from the centre of
Melegnano, where the more important city structures are placed.
There are two parallel actions that can be previewed:
a) the installation of structures and services inside the quarter;
b) the improvement/increase of the possibilities to overcome the railway barrier.
About (a) the urban zoning plan enforced by the municipality, it locates inside the quarter an area of
approximately 106.000 m2 destined to public activities, but this area is still owned by private
property and it is impossible to plan any action now.
Close to the railway station (b), a pedestrian and cycling underground passage has been built, but
this concentrates the possibility to cross the railway in a single point forcing the people to make a
route longer than the ideal distances measured in a straight line could allow.
The future Town Master Plan (it is pertinent to the railway station context) previews a new bus
station and a park and ride area near the train station, to integrate the different forms of public
transportation: railway and bus. Moreover it envisages the renewal of the existing cycle/pedestrian
crossing of the railroads and the construction of a new underground passage (also for pedestrians
80
General Registry Office’s database and Census 2001
81
The percentage about un-rented and/or empty units in Census 1991 was 9,92% and 10,1% respectively in the
neighbourhood and Melegnano. Anyway after ten years that data are unreliables
QUASCO - COPRAT 114
and bikes) in the north side of the train station; that is not a substantial improvement, but it will help
for better connections with the town centre.
5. Economical activity (Target 2)

In the mostly residential part of the neighbourhood are located a few number of retail shops.
The productive area by excellence is the ex-industrial area Saronio where, in spite of the declared
presence of polluting substances in the ground, small business and handicrafts activities continue
to go on.
Moreover the outer western part of the territory is still destined to agricultural activities.
6. Gardens and parks (Target 4)

At present, the green area of greater value in the Cipes neighbourhood is the already cited Parco
delle Noci (Park of the Walnuts) that has a surface area of approximately 37.000 m2. The area has a
small dimension and is closed between the residential area and the high speed railway viaduct.
In the 80’ies it had been used as a waste dump; although there were unfavourable elements the area
has been recovered, thanks to a plan promoted and put into effect by the Melegnano city council,
the WWF and volunteers of the quarter. The reclaiming of the green area has been followed by the
planting of new trees and the restoration of the typical environment characters of the Po landscape.
The new park is used above all for didactic activities and it is possible to visit that during defined
opening times. The only building present in this area is a visitor’s centre, a small scientific
laboratory that carries out several activities and surveys to monitor the evolution of the
environment. It is moreover expected that the building will soon be equipped with a system of solar
panels.
South west from the park, directly beyond the high speed railway line, there is another green area
equipped with sports structures, on a surface of approximately 44.000 m2. Nevertheless that service
is managed by a football society and usually it is not open to the public; when the football team
can’t play it is possible to rent and use the football field.
7. Road network and traffic (Target 6, 17 and 18)

The vehicular traffic coming from the centre of Melegnano reaches the neighbourhood passing
through viale della Repubblica both from north and south. From the north - therefore also from and
to Milano - the access to the neighbourhood is derived from the provincial road n.40 (via per
Binasco); from south it is possible to reach the quarter through the via Giardini, but the railroad
overpass is 500 meters outside the Cipes neighbourhood (this part of road is on the territory of the
Cerro al Lambro municipality).
The other important axis for traffic inside the quarter is the road for Carpiano; it runs in from east to
west, perpendicular to the viale della Republica and it clearly divides the residential part of the
quarter from the industrial part, which extends north of the road. Also the road for Carpiano passes
over the highway and is the main connection with the agricultural areas, which are included both in
the Cipes neighbourhood and in the South Milano Park. The ideal continuation of the road to
Carpiano towards the historical centre, east of viale della Republica, is via Origoni; it gives access
to the railway station and to the cycle/pedestrian route crossing the railroad in an underground
passage.
The viability intersecting these main roads - viale della Repubblica and via per Carpiano - serves
the other parts of the neighbourhood.
QUASCO - COPRAT 115

Viale della Republica, the urban part of the Provincial road n.17 approximately 1 km long, is
crossed by an intense vehicular traffic with many heavy vehicles transporting goods to various
destinations other than Melegnano; this traffic is forced to transit through the urban area for lack of
alternative routes in the general transport net. The results of a traffic survey carried out in
September 2000 assume that the number of vehicles equivalent/daily has a medium value of
approximately 19.400 vehicles, even Sundays have a value that remains very high (16.000
vehicles).82
The problem is not easy to resolve because the plan for new vehicular roads involves also the
territories of adjacent municipalities (especially Cerro al Lambro) complicating the management
and realization of any kind of initiative.
The problems derived from this intense traffic are related to air and acoustic pollution. For the latter
some recent maintenance operations of the street surface together with the installation of a traffic
island, which has decreased the street section obligating cars and trucks to reduce their speed, has
already produced a reduction o of the acoustic pressure level.
We remember that the future Town Master Plan takes interest in the railway station context. The
new bus station and also the park and ride will attract many people, so it is very important to project
the road network correctly and to improve the road sections, adjacent spaces and relating services.
3 - viale della Repubblica with the new traffic island
A net of cycle paths is being realized in Melegnano crossing part of the Cipes neighbourhood: along
the viale della Repubblica 1.425 meters of cycle path track (950 meters on the east side and 475
meters on the west side) have already been realised and aside the via per Carpiano there is a
cycle/pedestrian route that has to be recovered; now it is 195 meters long but, according to the
municipality plans, it should continue way beyond, towards the countryside and the Parco Sud
Milano.
82
Source: Conteggi di traffico e rilievi acustici lungo viale della Repubblica, by Eng. Andrea Debernardi, Polinomia
srl, december 2000
QUASCO - COPRAT 116
8. Polarity, attractiveness (Target 20 and 21)

Currently the quarter does not attract people other than the ones who live or work in the area, except
for the green areas (the Parco delle Noci and the sports fields, both structures serving the whole
town). Once re-qualified, both the industrial and handicraft areas and the zone for public services
indicated by the zoning town plan (currently agricultural and completely un built) will be able to
become more attractive for the community. Unfortunately it is very difficult to plan an operative
scheme about that zone for public services because it is a private property.
Other elements to be preserved are the farmsteads and the agricultural landscape. Those areas are
included in the South Milano Park. The park is extended to a vast territory and it is significant for
the regional government and all the municipalities involved in it. The park’s management is
regulated by specific laws.83
From the neighbourhood the Melegnano station can be reached comfortably; the railway line is used
a lot for urban commuting to other districts both for job activities and study (adjacent districts and
Milan).
In the near future more attraction can derive from the new parking area between viale della
Repubblica and the road for Carpiano (approximately 7.600 m2) and the new bus station
(approximately 2.200 m2) The new park and ride will favour the use of the train for those who need
to travel to other districts.
There are no cultural association or entertainment places (cinema etc.) inside the neighbourhood’s
boundaries.
The only place is the local seat of Jehovah’s witness.
9. Space management (Target 9 and 11)

Other than the Parco delle Noci (which is not properly destined to leisure time activities) and the
sports fields, in the neighbourhood there are no other spaces for community life. The centre of great
attraction for all people living in Melegnano is the Mediceo castle in the historical centre, outside
the Cipes quarter (linear distance it is about 500 m.). The entire complex has been restored a few
years ago (both the building and the external space which is used as public park with a play area for
children) and covers an area of approximately 21.000 m2; the castle hosts various cultural
associations and spaces for several activities.
The recovery of the industrial zone is very important, not only for inhabitants health, but also for
the space organisation and the localisation of new activities.
10. Environment (Target 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19)

• Risks
The greatest risk for environment and health in the neighbourhood is the presence of toxic
substances in the ground, released by the ex chemical industry Saronio. In the month of July 2001 it
was found that these substances are still contaminating the water-bearing stratum and are producing
water pollution.
83
LR n. 86/83 and DGR 3 agosto 2000 - n. 7/818 LR n. 86/83 (Regional Governement Laws) - Passage of the Piano
Territoriale di Coordinamento del Parco Regionale Agricolo Sud Milano
QUASCO - COPRAT 117
A reclaiming plan is now being designed, but there is the absolute necessity to reclaim that area
before proceeding with the future Town Master Plan.
• Resources and Resource consumption

Recently the drawing up of an Energy Plan has been commissioned in order to quantify the real
consumption of energy resources and to indicate new guide lines towards an improved resource
saving politics. The study (recently concluded) and the data collected for it, will be available soon.
The Energy Plan is a first step towards a new culture for environment safeguard.
As far as the use of water resources we present the procapita consumption of drinking water: in the
neighbourhood 163,9 m3 of water per inhabitant are used, while the national data is of 73 m3. This
quantity is very high even if compared other Italian realities, but the municipality has not yet started
any action to reduce this consumption.
A first action to improve the situation could be the re-use of rain water for private gardens; there is
already a public green area in Melegnano where rain water is re-used, but it is external to the Cipes
neighbourhood.
The current Italian sanitary norms do not allow the use of rain water inside the dwellings (as for
example in the wc).
As for separate waste collection, in 1997 the 37% of waste has been recycled; currently the 54% of
the produced waste is recovered and recycled.
Besides this, there are no other strategies to reduce or contain the consumption of natural resources.
• Pollution
As we previously pointed out, the main source of pollution is due to the heavy vehicular traffic
(goods trucks transiting through the quarter). This produces an acoustic pollution over the limits
established by law and air pollution.
As for the air quality, the data obtained give only indicative values because they have not been
taken inside the Cipes neighbourhood; they can be considered reliable since they refer to the via
Emilia, on which the traffic volume is similar if not even heavier; the acoustic pollution data is
reliable because it refers to viale della Repubblica: during the day the noise levels are almost 70
dB(A).
Another source of acoustic pollution is the railroad: both the Milano Bologna line and the high
speed lines pass through the quarter.
The more serious fact is that acoustic pollution, coming from both the vehicular road and the
railroad, exceeds the limit values, above all during the night time - approximately 60 dB(A).
11. Social life (Target 13, 20 and 21)

At the present state of this research this aspect must still be in-depth.
In Melegnano, however, there are several cultural associations which carry out various activities for
the local community, but none of these is in the Cipes neighbourhood.
The religious festivity Festa del Perdono (and the respective fair) is the most important city event.
The recurrence began in 1563 when Pope Pio IV gave the indulgence and forgiveness to the
community of Melegnano. At the beginning, this festivity was only ascetic in nature, later it became
an economical, commercial and social event too. The Festa del Perdono occurs every year, lasting
from the end of March to the first week of June, in this period many exhibitions, concerts,
performances, races and competitions take place in the town.
The height of the festivity is in the Easter week.
QUASCO - COPRAT 118

In Melegnano there are also some neighbourhood fairs, but Cipes has no fixed events. Maybe this is
because the neighbourhood is lacking of its own identity.
12. Potentials and subjects

The aim of the project is the definition of possible action plans towards a sustainable renovation of
existing neighbourhoods; in particular, the strategy for the CIPES neighbourhood is to reduce the
impact of vehicular traffic, to reclaim the polluted areas and to improve the quality of the built
environment.
The purposes are described in detail and different actions:
PRINCIPAL AIMS OF CIPES NEIGHBOURHOOD
Reclaiming of the ex chemical industrial zone (ex Saronio)

Reduction/control of heavy vehicular traffic and improvement of public transportation
Reduction of acoustic pollution produced by vehicular traffic and railroad traffic
Improvement of accessibility between the Cipes neighbourhood and the city centre
Creation of a new park and ride area and a bus station
Preservation and improvement of agricultural and rural territory
Improvement of residential buildings, especially flats between the railroad Milano-Bologna
and viale della Repubblica
Definition of an Action Plan for the “F” zone (area of approximately 106.000 m2 destined to
activities of public interest and services by the Town Master Plan)
AIMS OF THE ALL MUNICIPAL TERRITORY
Adoption of a new Building’s rule book

Adoption of a new Energy Plan
Updating of the ‘95 Report on the State of the Environment (the book which contains data
and strategies for a sustainable development)
Increase of the pedestrian and cycling roads network
13. Projects and final outcomes

Improvement of urban quality
To create a park and ride at the train station to integrate the different forms of public transportation:
railway and bus.
To decrease and slow down the vehicular traffic in the residential areas.
To decrease the acoustic pollution in Viale della Repubblica.
To rehabilitate the ex chemical industrial zone “Saronio”.
To better integrate Melegnano land into the South Milano Park.
Improvement of social and cultural quality

To promote citizens participation in public matters and in particular in the problems related to the
growth and the development of the city.
To improve job opportunities.
Improvement of architectonic and urban environmental quality
QUASCO - COPRAT 119

To renovate the built areas around the railway and the new parking area (part of ex chemical
industrial zone). To promote new sustainable development rules for planning, construction, re-
qualification and rehabilitation of all areas. To improve the environmental quality in prevention and
reclaiming of polluted areas.

Improvement of social and cultural quality
The settlement of new social activities in the neighbourhood is very complex even if this aim is
considered an agreed priority. Actually the “F” zone, destined to activities of public interest and
services by the Town Master Plan, is owned by private property, therefore it is difficult to plan a
real short-term programme.
Improvement of architectonic and urban environmental quality

The residential blocks between the Milano-Bologna railroad and viale della Repubblica have
different characters. The quality of this part of the neighbourhood is poor and it could be right to
plan the gradual replacement of some building. Nevertheless those areas are also owned by private
property and at the present time we don’t foresee new constructions, not even where buildings
appear deteriorated.
As far as the great impact of the high speed railway lines is concerned, the reduction of the acoustic
pollution is the only shared action plan.
QUASCO - COPRAT 120

HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"BON PASTOR" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of BARCELONA
ITeC
Albert CUCHI Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció

de Catalunya (ITeC); Environment and
Construction Line
Noemí GRANADO Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció
Construction Line
European Union
ITeC 121
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD...................................................... 123

1.1. Population 123
1.2. Housing 124
1.3. Facilities and services 124
1.6. Streets and traffic 125
1.7. Urban infrastructure 125
1.8. Social activity 125
2. POTENTIAL OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (STRONG POINTS).......................... 125

2.1. Houses and inhabitants 126
2.2. Non-residential buildings and activities 126
2.3. Non-built-up areas and their users 126
2.4. Infrastructure and users 126
3. DYSFUNCTIONS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (WEAK POINTS)...................... 127

4. MAIN CHALLENGES FACING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ................................... 128

4.1. To improve urban quality 128
4.2. Improvement of social and cultural quality 128
4.3. Improvement of the environmental quality of building and planning 129
ITeC 122
1. Introduction of the neighbourhood

The Bon Pastor neighbourhood was built at the end of the 1920s to accommodate people that had
come to Barcelona during the 1929 Universal Expo and who had settled in shanty towns. Like other
housing estates of the time, Bon Pastor was the result of a low-cost housing campaign by the Board
of Housing of the City Council of Barcelona, now known as the Municipal Board of Housing.
Located in the north of the city of Barcelona, 781 of the so-called “Cheap Houses” were initially
built against a backdrop of orchards and workers’ homes, configuring an orthogonal section of
islands occupied by single-storey houses with a surface area of 43 m2 each.
The neighbourhood is bounded on one side by the Besòs River, until recently one of the most
polluted water courses in Catalonia, scourged by the industrial estates that line its banks upstream,
and which over the last few years has been the centre of a regeneration project geared towards
restoring the quality of its waters and environment. There is a dual carriageway between the river
and the city, the Litoral Ring Road, which is only covered over in two sections, one of them being
the part that runs through the neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood was originally an inhabited island amid industrial and agricultural areas, a
situation it has maintained hitherto in an industrial 'hinterland'. Its peculiar fabric, its buildings, the
unit-type nature of its urban configuration and relative isolation make the neighbourhood stand out
in the district and the city.
The Bon Pastor is part of the administrative district of Sant Andreu, erected on an ancient
settlement which was absorbed by the growth of Barcelona in the 19th Century, even although only
one of its streets is actually linked to this nucleus due to the fact that the railway that runs through it
cuts both places off from each other.
The original lack of facilities in the neighbourhood has been progressively corrected by the
occupation of peripheral areas by new facilities which, by dint of the small dimensions of the
neighbourhood, have improved accessibility. The neighbourhood has thus maintained its fabric and
is surrounded by a belt of educational, commercial, health and sports services.
The current situation of the neighbourhood is basically underpinned by an aging housing structure,
precarious from the outset, curtailing any possibility of extension via the occupation of the small
yards between the houses, with the latter, moreover, presenting poor conditions of habitability due
to the lack of space and diseases in the building systems.
1.1 Population
The Bon Pastor (BP) neighbourhood, the censual area where the area of action (ZA) of the project
HQE2R is located, and for which statistical data are available, features a population pyramid highly
equivalent to that of the district it is part of, and generally speaking to that of the city of Barcelona.
The area of action features a higher index of aging population due to housing shortage, which leads
new families in the area to emigrate.
The geographic origin of the neighbourhood is very similar in distribution to those of the rest of the
city, the only difference being a smaller non-Spanish population and a slight increase in the
population of non-Catalan origin.
The neighbourhood has a total of 12,422 inhabitants (0.81% of the population of Barcelona) and
4,355 houses (0.75% of the total of Barcelona). The ZA has 2187 inhabitants and 781 houses.
In the BP neighbourhood there is a density of 59 inhabitants per hectare, much lower than the mean
for Barcelona, which is 152 inhabitants per hectare, due mainly to the low density of the ZA, which
is occupied by single-floor houses.
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Unemployment in the neighbourhood stands at 11%, considerably higher than city and district
averages, 7.4% and 7.87%, respectively, whereas the average family income is equivalent to 76% of
the average family income of the city, a substantial relative deficit.
1.2 Housing
The most outstanding factor of the ZA is the homogeneity of existing housing, due to their shared
origin, and the lack of any renovation in the last 80 years, apart from any improvements made by
the residents to their houses, the most common ones being via the occupation of the yards behind
the houses.
The standard housing unit is single-storey with prefabricated walls and flat roof, with façade and
door onto the street and an inside yard at the back, the original surface area being 43 m2, with one
bedroom.
The infrastructure problems affecting the ZA and the deficiencies in the building systems used –
compounded by the passing of time and often the lack of proper maintenance – give rise to serious
problems of damp inside the houses, which seriously undermine their habitability.
These building problems are aggravated by the lack of space in the houses which, due to the
terraced configuration on plots of land and town planning, cannot be extended; the only way of
increasing the available surface area is by occupying the yard, which at best can be described as
“alegal”, and has also curtailed any would-be improved habitability by eliminating the possibility of
rear ventilation.
Nowadays, the law does not permit such a small surface area for the normal houses in the ZA - and
for standard family models – which average 2.3 inhabitants per house.
The lack of surface area – and of the possibility of growth- as well as building shortcomings, and
often the lack of other facilities, have led to the devaluation of the houses in the neighbourhood, and
their going market rate to fall well below the city average, 65%, and to 75% of the district average.
The land’s repercussion value is 50% that of the mean value of Barcelona.
The quality of the installations of the houses depends on the possibilities of their occupants and the
investments they have made over time to settle better, although it is mainly below the average for
Barcelona. By way of example, they do not generally have heating and use butane heaters for this
purpose, which is the lowest-cost and least comfortable system. The building quality of the houses
need not be seen as a deterrent to investing in making improvements to a deficient structure.
1.3 Facilities and services
The ZA is quite well served with facilities a very reasonable distance away, as its perimeter features
a market, a health centre, primary and secondary schools and different sports installations.
Access to other equipment or services depends on the rest of the neighbourhood and eventually on
poor communications with the rest of the district, although though this connection leads to a high
street, and a large shopping centre at metropolitan level.
The limitations of the current urban fabric based on the single-storey house limits the provision of
services and equipments, and particularly commercial activities.
The residential aspect of the ZA strictly limits economic activities in the neighbourhood. The
aforementioned lack of possibility of carrying on commercial activity due to a lack of suitable
spaces, together with the low density of the neighbourhood, is not conducive to the promotion of
economic activities and almost condemns the ZA to being a sleeping neighbourhood.
As occurs with the facilities, there are high levels of activity, industrial and commercial or services,
around the ZA, and their proximity is made more immediate due to the smallness of the
neighbourhood.
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There are no green areas or gardens in the ZA, although the trees that line the streets and the
gardens around its perimeter add a certain touch of greenness to the neighbourhood.
Less than 30 minutes away from the ZA on foot are two fairly large parks, the Park del Pegaso, 3.7
Ha, and the Parc de la Trinitat, 7 Ha, although the neighbourhood has access to the bed of the river
Besòs, which potentially, and due to its natural value, could offer the best possibility of a
metropolitan scale park.
1.6 Streets and traffic
The internal road network of the ZA serves only to access the houses, and is not part of any main
road system for urban movement. Only the perimeter streets are part of elements that link up with
other neighbourhoods and districts, with special mention of the Ronda Litoral, which closes off the
neighbourhood in the north-west, and which is part of the basic metropolitan road network.
Barring the Ronda ring road, which is covered over at the point where it passes through the
neighbourhood, the remaining perimeter streets do not support enough traffic or complex
configurations for them to be barriers to people mobility, quite the opposite, the layout of the
facilities on the other side makes them more permeable to everyday life. These streets support three
bus lines – plus a night line – which constitute the public transport system that links the ZA to the
rest of the city.
The internal streets, and to a large extent the low density of houses, act as veritable focal points
where the people of the neighbourhood can gather. This is the consequence of a tradition which has
also prevented the car from establishing its supremacy, as occurs in most streets in the rest of the
city.
Probably, the fact that people take life to the streets, so to speak, has helped to make up for the lack
of room inside the houses, creating a strong sensation of belonging boosted by continuous contact
between the neighbours.
The quality of the urban space is suboptimal due to infrastructure problems and the sizing, for
example, of pavements, which are insufficient and out-dated for the use that is made of them.
1.7 Urban infrastructure
The urban infrastructure of the neighbourhood presents a considerable state of degradation,

particularly the sanitary and street drainage network, which causes serious problems not only in the
urban context but also impacts health-sanitary conditions in the houses.
The lack of quality of these infrastructures and the high per-house impact due to the low density of
the ZA is one of the main problems of the neighbourhood.
1.8 Social activity
The low density and size of the ZA is not conducive to very structured social activities in it,
although on the other hand activities are held in the district, and at a reasonable distance.
The most important social activity is the actual life of the neighbourhood, in a public space still
dominated by social interaction beyond any mobility demands. This neighbourhood life has led to
two very well-rooted neighbours’ associations, one of them in the ZA.
Unfortunately, this community spirit does not translate into participation beyond the limits of the
neighbourhood, and abstention in the last local elections surpassed the 52% of the electorate, well
above the mean for Barcelona.
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2. Potential of the neighbourhood (strong points)

The potential of the neighbourhood, or its strong points, which may be used for the foundations of
any improvement actions, are presented by areas.
2.1 Houses and inhabitants
Despite the low level of quality of the houses, from the standpoint of residents and residences, the
ZA has some strong points that must be addressed:
- the neighbours’ feeling of belonging to the community is undoubtedly one of the major strong
points of the ZA. Boosted by the specific nature of its urban fabric, which reinforces identity and
the feeling of being different, as well as by occupying the street to acquire space due to the
smallness of the houses, it is a value to be maintained and reinforced, an asset that cannot be
replaced by the process of urban renovation.
- the low density of houses that permits greater buildability than in the actual approach. In the
renovation of the neighbourhood, increasing the quantity of houses by leveraging the current
legislation is not only a possibility of improving the surface area of the existing houses, but also of
attracting new and different people vis-à-vis the current population.
2.2 Non-residential buildings and activities
While the absence of non-residential edification is one of the neighbourhood’s shortcomings, there
are some strong points in this aspect that may be leveraged:
- the neighbourhood’s central position in the urban development of Barcelona, which has afforded it
a new position near some elements –the Ring Roads, the river Besòs, La Maquinista shopping
centre, etc.-, boosting the possibilities of implementing new activities in the process of renovation
of the neighbourhood, if synergies are leveraged and certain shortcomings, such as connectivity, can
be redressed.
- as was commented in the previous section, the possible increase in building, which will render it
possible to build places to make room for new activities, thus overcoming the most important
obstacles or deficits at the moment, namely the lack of somewhere to hold such activities.
2.3 Non-built-up areas ands their users
The strong points of the urban spaces are:

- the maintenance of the environmental quality of the neighbourhood thanks to the fact that it has
not been taken over by the car. The low intensity of heavy traffic caused by this low density, the
absence of non-residential activities and the low use of the street network by the general traffic of
the city, has made it possible for the neighbours to take to the streets to interact, almost as if it were
an extension of their actual house, thereby obtaining a pleasant and socially suitable space.
- the possibility of winning back free public space by building re-planning. The low height of the
buildings generates a high occupation of the land in the ZA which could be reduced in a possible
renovation based on higher buildings, thus recovering more public space organised in smaller plots.
2.4 Infrastructure and users
While infrastructure is the major shortcoming in the neighbourhood, any renovation involves one
strong point that has to be addressed:
- the need to revamp infrastructure leading to the possibility of approaching sustainable models is
an issue that needs to be addressed. The total redefinition of the networks and urban services must
ITeC 126
be carried out based on a sustainable urban logic, and must therefore be designed from the outset
using sustainability models other than models being used in our cities.
3. Dysfunctions of the neighbourhood (weak points)

Although the description of the neighbourhood has already uncovered the dysfunctions of the ZA,
this section lists the weak points in the established areas of the HQE2R project.
The essentially residential function of the neighbourhood has been devalued by the weak points
which precisely characterise the infrastructure of the houses in the ZA, and which are mirrored in
the following weak points:
- the overall difficulty of solving the lack of quality of the building systems and installations of the
buildings despite the different solutions attempted by the users, which have proved to be
insufficient.
- the surface area of the houses, a consequence of the original design, insufficient to lead a normal
family life in keeping with current standards and which is a burden, even more so for young people,
due to the existence of unviable housing.
- the presence of crime in the ZA making use of the actual structure of the neighbourhood and the
extreme degradation of some parts of the houses as the scene of such delinquency. This presence
generates insecurity in the neighbourhood which affects both the latter’s image as well as the
possibility of attracting people from other places, to say nothing of the quality of life of the
inhabitants, another basic issue.
- The lack of quality of the building systems and installations of the buildings, with serious diseases
that affect their security and habitability, and which are difficult to deal with as they are very
widespread, compounded by the passing of time and the lack of proper maintenance.
- An aging population in the ZA brought about by the lack of renovation spawned by the poor
housing quality, curtailing the neighbourhood’s economic and social regeneration potential.
- The lack of different types of houses and possibilities of adapting to different family
configurations and types of users, which curtails social diversification capacity.
3.2 Non-residential building and activities
Non-residential activities are nonexistent in the ZA, thus giving rise to a lack of diversity and
interest for the rest of the neighbourhood, the district and the city.
- lack of connectivity, essentially with the centre of the city, and of integration with the other
neighbourhoods in the district, which reduces activity in the neighbourhood to the purely residential
function.
- deficiency in the amount of commercial facilities, the main driving force behind other activities
and of movement of people from other neighbourhoods, due in part to the lack of premises available
in the ZA.
- deficiency in the amount of social and cultural facilities in the ZA, despite the health-care and
educational facilities available on its periphery.
3.3 Non-built-up areas and users
Non-built-up areas boil down strictly to the streets of the urban fabric of the ZA. Its weak points
are:
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- lack of suitable and functionally different public space and the capacity to generate activities. This
lack, despite the subsidiary function the street has had as the scenario for forging a community
feeling in the neighbourhood, impairs the quality of interaction between residents as it renders it
impossible to diversify activities and generate representative spaces to boost both the use thereof
and identification with the neighbourhood.
- lack of green areas in the ZA, despite the existing rows of trees, leading to an absence of
recreational areas and activities in a naturalised area.
- lack of quantity and quality of urban installations or facilities, devoid of urban fixtures,
deteriorated paving, narrow and deficient pavements, etc., partly due to the deficiencies of drainage
infrastructure afflicting the neighbourhood.
Infrastructure in the neighbourhood is one of its general weak points, which bring it to the verge of
functional, constructive and developmental ruin in terms of public spaces and housing:
- Serious shortcomings in the sewage and drainage networks which affect the habitability of public
areas and housing.
- lack of quality in service infrastructure, which needs renovation beyond any operating
maintenance it may have once had if a modern and efficient service quality is to be attained.
4. Main challenges facing the neighbourhood

The main challenges to be addressed in the regeneration of the neighbourhood are:
4.1 To improve urban quality
Defined by the integration of Bon Pastor within the neighbourhood of Sant Andreu, the
improvement of road communications and urban transport is pivotal in the accomplishment of this
objective, considering that the improvement must be brought about by boosting sustainable
mobility.
This drive to mobility must be reflected in paving, the protection of thoroughfares used for this type
of mobility, traffic preferences, car no-go areas, bicycle parking facilities, accessibility for people
with reduced mobility, etc. and considering protected roads for accessing the installations and
services for every use, include health facilities.
Improve the quality of the cityscape by creating and integrating green areas in the neighbourhood
via a strategy targeting the improvement of environmental quality, leveraging the ecological
functions of these green elements.
To afford the neighbourhood commercial services, seeking service for the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood as well as to attract people from outside the area and to promote and stabilise the
urban quality which all trade generates in an urban environment.
In this regard, the challenge consists of increasing the value of the neighbourhood in the eyes of the
rest of the city –via new activities- as an indispensable condition to ensure the survival of urban
quality by maintaining demand for the basic elements: communications, cityscape quality, quality
of services and security and safety.
4.2 Improvement of social and cultural quality
To equip the neighbourhood with the social facilities that will help to maintain and boost the
existing social involvement and the integration of newcomers to the neighbourhood within this
community structure.
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Achieving a diversification of the neighbourhood population (in income and age) by increasing the
total number of houses via the buildability provided by planning is one objective that must make it
possible to retain young people in the neighbourhood and attract newcomers from different sources
and with different profiles.
In this regard, preventive measures in citizens’ safety must go hand in hand with social integration
actions to recover a basic atmosphere of safety in the neighbourhood to avoid the formation of
ghettos embedded in the ZA which act as social solvents.
4.3 Improvement of the environmental quality of building and planning
The much-needed renovation of the neighbourhood’s infrastructure, the real reason for its
renovation, must be approached from the standpoint of the sustainability of the mobility of
materials supporting it.
The water management model, from collection in buildings and streets to waste waters; the
neighbourhood’s energy model, from the generation of solar energy to buildings and the efficiency
of public services; the material dynamics model, from the loading and unloading of products to
selective refuse collection for recycling and the control of emissions into the air, are the issues to be
defined to adapt the type and sizing of infrastructure to the application of sustainable models.
Particular interest should be paid to the necessary renovation of the houses, the veritable driving
force behind renovation in the neighbourhood, where these strategies must be implemented
optimising the resources available for sustainable building, including the experience of the PMH in
this field.
Thus, the incorporation of systems for saving consumption, energy or water, reduction in the
emissions of CO² associated with the consumption of energy and the manufacture of materials, the
selection of materials and building systems with greatest environmental quality – less impact
depending on the life cycle, low maintenance, high durability- must be the objectives of new
building work.
In keeping with the 'Barcelona model', the architectural quality of building and the urban spaces
generated is a basic demand in the operation for the renovation of the neighbourhood.
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HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"ANTIC, ESCODINES, VIC-REMEI"
NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of MANRESA
ITeC
Albert CUCHI Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció

Construction Line
Noemí GRANADO Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció
Construction Line
European Union
ITeC 130
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD...................................................... 132

1.1. Geographical scope 132
1.2. Historic evolution 132
1.3. Population 133
1.4. Housing 133
1.5. Facilities and services 134
1.8. Streets and traffic 134
1.9. Urban infrastructure 135
1.10. Social activity 135
2. POTENTIAL OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (STRONG POINTS).......................... 135

2.2. Buildings and non-residential activities 136
3. DYSFUNCTIONS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (WEAK POINTS)...................... 137

4. MAIN CHALLENGES FACING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ................................... 139

4.1. To promote social programmes and for the generation of installations 139
4.2. Regeneration of houses 139
4.3. Increase and adapt the public space 139
4.4. Promotion of economic activity 140
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1. Introduction of the neighbourhood

1.1 Geographical scope
The Old Part of Manresa is the part of the city outside the main population nucleus, comprising a
surface area of 45.33 Ha, i.e., 6% of the total amount of land classified as urban land by the General
Plan of Manresa. The Old Part, according to this Plan, comprises the sectors of urban land that
correspond to the old part of the city, characterised by a process of city planning and traditional
buildings, with an environmental quality respected by the Plan by including its planning
characteristics and establishing suitable protection measures. It distinguishes between sectors in the
Old Part of Manresa which are characterised by historic and population differences, although they
share the problems and challenges that determine the present and the future of the neighbourhood.
The urban shape of this sector, apart from any renovation operations carried out over the last
century and up until the present day, can be clearly distinguished from the growth that took place in
the city as of industrialisation. Industrialisation, besides being a reference in time that sets the limit
between two forms of urban growth, is also a reference with regard to a change in the trends in the
preferences of the inhabitants of Manresa. This preference would have favoured the new residential
land offered by the widenings, leading to a slow and progressive abandoning of the city which had
thitherto been consolidated, and eventually to the regrettable state of urban degradation in the sector
now known as the Old Part, where increasingly more physical, structural, social and economic
problems are accumulating.
In order to re-channel this unfortunate situation, the City Council of Manresa is working to achieve
management and planning instruments that will make it possible to recover the Old Part. Thus, on
February 4, 1994, the Foment de la Rehabilitació Urbana de Manresa, S.A. (FORUM s.a.) was
incorporated, an exclusively municipal-owned joint stock company created as an instrument for the
management of the public urban rehabilitation service. As of its incorporation, FORUM s.a. has
worked to define the objectives, criteria and priorities of its action and to set the guidelines that will
govern the whole process of rehabilitation of the Old Part. Since then, three Special Reform Plans
have been approved for the Old Part, the management of which is now under development.
1.2 Historic Evolution
We may say that the development of the urban structure of the Old Part of Manresa has been shaped
by three elements: natural elements, such as the relief and river courses; city-planning elements,
such as the walls and the representative public, religious and private buildings; and social and
economic elements, which have gradually changed throughout history, such as guild organisations,
the process of industrialisation, wars and immigration, amongst others.
The evolution of the Old Part was triggered in the 14th Century, regarded by historians as the city’s
greatest century, with the beginning of a greater economic expansion with an implicit concentric
city-development expansion, accompanied by the renovation of roads and the creation of new
squares in the areas located immediately outside the walls of the most important thoroughfares, and
also parallel to the erection of the major religious buildings, temples and convents and great
infrastructure works, such as the Sèquia, which would have a major impact on the configuration of
the city. The suburban growth is very important, and this substantial expansion, also outside the
walls, spawned the need to undertake what was to be the third and last extension of the walled area,
which would span two centuries: the wall of Sant Domènec in the 15th Century and the wall of Sant
Francesc in the 15th Century.
As of this moment the city grew in two directions, inside and outside the walls. Growth inside
saturated the new urban structure as far as the walls, rendering the existing structure even denser.
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Growth outside the walls, which followed, as in older times, the roads out of the city, heralded an
important growth of the suburbs.
The 19th Century witnessed a series of significant events that would mark the future development
of the city, such as the fire and destruction of a large part of the city by the French army at the turn
of the century, which was rebuilt quickly and in very poor conditions; the demolition of the walls-
as there was no longer any need to maintain them, as a measure to face up to demographic pressure
-, and the process of industrialisation of the city undertaken in the previous century, the advent of
the railway, which played a key role in economic expansion and modernisation as well as having a
decisive influence in the city’s morphology.
1.3 Population
In December 2000, the population of the Old Part (NA) of Manresa was 5,906, accounting for
9.14% of the population of Manresa (64,617 inhabitants).
The basic aspects characterising the population of the NA, particularly with regard to the rest of
Manresa, are:
• an age pyramid that shows a drift towards a substantial increase in the population
aged above 65, higher than the same age fringe in the rest of the city (currently 26.9% in the
Old Part as opposed to 20.6% of Manresa)
• since 1986 a progressive fall in the populating, with the abandonment of houses and
businesses, most of which relocate to other neighbourhoods in the city
• even so, a population density of 130 inhabitants/hectare versus 86 inhabitants/hectare
in the rest of the city
• the absorption of the immigrant population from North Africa, with a much higher
proportion than in the rest of the city, the current percentage being 11.6%.
• the NA has a growing illiteracy rate, 7.5% in 2000 versus 1.3% in 1994, although it
also has a rate of graduates and diploma holders of 7.5% of the population versus 9.1% in
the city overal
• a low level of income, with 60% of the population of the NA having a per capita
income of below 60 €/month
1.4 Housing
The NA of Manresa has 4,307 houses on its census, which account for 14.5% of the city’s houses.
The fact that it houses 9.14% of the population is illustrative of the low density of use of this
heritage, and also points to a low housing occupation rate (1.3 inhabitants/house versus 2.1 for
Manresa), and consequently a considerable number of unoccupied houses (some areas of the NA
presenting a 50% rate of unoccupied houses).
On the other hand, the fact that the NA occupies 6.03% of the surface area of urban land points to
far higher housing densities than the other neighbourhoods in the city. The average density is 95
houses/hectare, although it reaches values of 400 houses/hectare in the densest areas (which are also
the most degraded areas).
The aspects defining the houses in the NA are:
• houses erected in a very dense urban fabric characterised mainly by this residential
factor, although this is a basic trait of the old parts of many cities, and which suffered very
important historic processes of densification on its plots and much more extensive original
building work.
• a very old heritage (65% of the buildings are more than 100 years old), generally
speaking with a low level of maintenance and renovation, leading to degraded building
systems and deficient services that often generate habitability problems: nearly 40% of the
houses of the NA do not fulfil the minimum mandatory habitability conditions.
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• 64% of the buildings of the NA present serious deficiencies, be they structural,

building or functional, which suggests that rehabilitation processes would not be easy; 21%
of them present a degree of degradation that will permit rehabilitation, and only 15% of the
buildings are in proper or acceptable condition
• the consequences are low cadastral values, old rents and the already-mentioned very
low rate of house occupancy, although rehabilitation activities have increased in recent years
• mainly rented houses where the unit of property is the building, or block, and the
houses in it are rented. Very few owners actually live in the neighbourhood and most of the
houses are rented to low purchasing power tenants (pensioners and a high number of
immigrants)
• moreover, the accumulation of building work in the NA over time means that 51% of
the buildings classified as being of historic or architectural interest in the city are located in
the NA
1.5 Facilities and services
Most of the city’s cultural facilities are located in the neighbourhood – it houses 45.8% of all
theatres, museums and exhibition rooms, and it also provides the headquarters to 54.7% of cultural
organisations and groups, although culture and activity consumers are basically inhabitants from
other neighbourhoods, and the residents of the NA do not relate to these facilities.
Although there is an important and well-known commercial activity in the neighbourhood, it is
focused mainly in specific areas and basically serves the rest of the city. On the other hand, there is
no commercial life adapted to the conditions of the neighbourhood.
By way of indication, the rate of empty ground-floor premises of the buildings (where shops are
located) is 5.25% in the city overall and 8% in the NA, even reaching the figure of 60% in the most
abandoned areas.
Equally, the scope of the public services in the neighbourhood goes beyond the actual
neighbourhood (as it contains the institutional headquarters of the municipal services), while there
are deficits at local level.
Barring the odd sector, basically commercial ones with a citywide sphere of action, economic
activities in the NA are in the throes of an ongoing recession.
The low levels of occupation of ground floor premises for commercial and industrial use and for
services is demonstrative of the lack of economic activity complemented by the low level of
occupation of flats by professional activities.
The historic densification processes of the neighbourhood have long since deprived it of the
network of urban market gardens within the walls which characterised Mediterranean cities until the
population growths of the 18th and 19th Centuries.
The lack of natural areas inside the NA as a result of the systematic use of the land by buildings and
the permanently insufficient system of streets and squares that lend support to commercial and civic
activities reflects a common situation in the old districts of our cities, highlighting a basic
shortcoming of these urban systems.
1.8 Streets and traffic
The network of streets is insufficient in terms of their quality, as well as configuration and sizing, to
be able to meet the requirements of current urban mobility models for both people and materials.
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Public space is reduced, its conformation corresponding to endangered urban models, presenting
poor connectivity and efficiency, the level of urbanisation being precarious, with poorly paved or
even unpaved streets, narrow pavements in a poor state of repair. Urban facilities are also generally
insufficient with deficiencies in service quality.
Accessibility to the neighbourhood is conditioned by the layout of the network of streets and by the
original constriction of the walled area, which prevents continuous flows and accessibility from the
more modern neighbourhoods. Some ring roads, used basically for vehicle traffic, follow the layout
of the old walls – on the perimeter of the neighbourhood - and support the public transport services
most accessible to the inhabitants. These ring roads, instead of facilitating access to the NA, allow
car drivers to avoid entering it. Only the central position of the NA affords it certain advantages in
this regard, aided y its proximity to the railway stations that link Manresa up with the rest of the
territory.
On the other hand, internal mobility in the neighbourhood is based on pedestrian movement,
constantly at odds with vehicle mobility limited by the layout of the streets, the narrow roads and
the lack of spaces for stopping or parking.
The level of vehicle ownership in the neighbourhood is 400 vehicles per thousand inhabitants, well
below the overall figure for Manresa, which is 610, and the 1244 parking spaces available are 223
spaces short for residents and 531 short for vehicles passing through to park in.
1.9 Urban infrastructure
The neighbourhood’s urban infrastructure presents serious problems caused by its antiquity and
deficient level of preservation, problems which limit, to a large extent, the quality of the services
rendered.
The sewage network is old and was realised at different times and with different techniques and
material. Only the steep slopes in the NA help to make for efficient water evacuation.
The electricity supply installations are 100 years old and corrective maintenance work has only
been effected on the high and medium voltage networks, leaving the low voltage network service in
a more deficient state of repair. Public lighting services are also deficient.
Although the public water supply network has been substantially improved, distribution in the
buildings is very deficient, with outdated installations and materials use din the systems for
regulating and metering the water supplied to the residents.
1.10 Social activity
As has already been mentioned, despite the prominence of cultural and social associations in the
neighbourhood, the inhabitants’ participation in them is very low, and these associations serve the
rest of the city more, their presence in the neighbourhood being justified for historic or centrality
reasons.
The aging population, the low level of income and the destructuring of the newly arrived immigrant
population, makes the neighbourhood’s ability to form associations low, and neither is there an
underlying common feeling of belonging.
2. Potential of the neighbourhood (strong points)

The neighbourhood’s potential, or strong points, which can be used as a basis for the improvement
actions, are presented below by areas
Despite the low level of quality of the houses and the population problems in the neighbourhood,
the residents and the residences of the NA present some strong points which need to be considered:
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• the environmental differentiation which, despite the degradation, is to be found in the

neighbourhood versus the other areas of the city. In this regard, the historical
contextualisation, underlined by the references of its monuments, establishes it as a physical
consolidation of the continuity in time which underpins the citizens’ identification with the
city. This value, which has made it possible to maintain the headquarters of important
citizens’ associations, has a potential appeal for to the population sectors that are sensitive to
these quality factors
• the increase in the population with medium and higher studies that has taken place in
recent years, and which may in part be a consequence of the previous idea, is a strong point
for the regenerating potential of this type of populating with regard to commercial activity
and services it attracts as well as the residential prestige which such presence generally
provides to other sectors of the population
• the possibilities of rejuvenation provided by immigrants in the neighbourhood, mainly
a young population that may bear children in the near future. Naturally, success in their
settlement in the city is the key to consolidating the population and the vegetative growth.
• the progressive increase in public and private investment in rehabilitation, attracted by
the low cost of the land caused by the degradation of the neighbourhood, which, if properly
channelled, may generate a mechanism of physical regeneration of the neighbourhood.
• the 'free space’ spawned by depopulation, which makes it possible clean the
neighbourhood, reducing its excessive population density, improving the dimension of the
houses, winning back public space and providing spatial resources to re-accommodate the
population in the same neighbourhood in the remodelling operations.
2.2 Building and non-residential activities
Once again, the strong points of the non-residential activities in the neighbourhood are underpinned
by the advantages of its central location in the city:
• the important socio-cultural dynamics throughout the city in the NA provides a
potential for dynamising other types of activities if proper action is taken. The power of
attraction generated by these cultural activities may be leveraged, if the right conditions
arise, by commercial activities and services which act as a focus of regeneration of the
neighbourhood
• the environmental quality, the possibility of becoming the headquarters of regenerative
activities and the tourist attraction provided by the abundance of buildings with major
artistic and heritage value, a capital investment that can be revaluated in the regeneration of
the NA
• the substantial concentration of services throughout the city, which the central position
of the neighbourhood has afforded it over the years. The activity generated and the
environmental quality this demands are factors that support the regeneration of the
neighbourhood.
• the importance of the quality commercial activity operating in certain areas of the
neighbourhood and which acts citywide, once again as an activity to attract public and
generate and maintain environmental quality around it, and which are traits that must be
spread from these areas to other parts of the NA
• the availability of space for the growth of commercial activities and services to
abandon the ground floors of the neighbourhood buildings. Brought on by the process of
degeneration of the NA, they are now becoming spatial opportunities to reproduce a
commercial and service fabric suited to new requirements, provided that architecture is
renovated.
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Once again the central position of the neighbourhood is the NA’s main potential as a strong point to
be validated in a process of urban regeneration:
• depopulation, with the accompanying loss of density, establishes a broad range of
possibilities to achieve new public spaces and generate attractive urban places with new
value thanks to the central position of the NA and the other strong points that boost the
environmental quality of the neighbourhood. A suitable configuration of new public spaces
conjugated with regeneration strategies –mobility, boosting the use of the area’s heritage,
parking areas for cultural and commercial focal points, etc.-, will be pivotal in leveraging the
potential of this central position of the NA.
• the accessibility of the neighbourhood from other points in the city, established by
the growth pattern characterising the evolution of traditional cities, is a strong point for re-
establishing urban continuity between the area and the rest of the city via the network of
urban spaces -streets, squares, green areas – which afford new value to the central position
of the neighbourhood.
• improvement of the environmental quality of the neighbourhood requires the
appraisal and use of mobility models other than the ones used in the more modern
neighbourhoods, adapting them, in the regeneration of the neighbourhood, to more
sustainable models
The need to renovate infrastructure, which will render it necessary to define broad-ranging
programmes, may help to make sure that the necessary investments are geared towards more
sustainable models and systems in the management of energy and water.
3. Dysfunctions in the neighbourhood (weak points)

Although the description of the neighbourhood has already shown, in comparison with the rest of
the city, the dysfunctions in NA, this section lists the weak points in the areas established by the
HQE2R project.
The essential function of housing for a neighbourhood of these characteristics presents major weak
points which will be the main challenges for action, namely:
• the trend towards the depopulation of the neighbourhood, as a process that exposes
the low quality of life offered by the NA, and which is a drain on the main capital needed to
regenerate the neighbourhood: people
• an aging population due to the emigration of the young people and the difficulty that
old people have in leaving the neighbourhood, which prompts an undeniable loss of
potential for a regeneration of the NA
• the strong increase in the immigrant population from North Africa, which albeit
providing possibilities for rejuvenating the neighbourhood already mentioned in the strong
points, also involves all the problems of integration that may turn the neighbourhood into a
marginal ghetto and work against the process of regeneration
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• in the same sense, a concentration of social problems greater than the rest of the
neighbourhoods in Manresa, a burden on the inhabitants’ capacity to give shape to future
proposals
• an extremely dense urban fabric with very disperse plots of land which prevents
actions on a certain scale and makes it necessary to micromanage the renovation process
• a high percentage of houses well below the habitability threshold in a built-up
heritage which for the most part requires major rehabilitation work
3.2 Non-residential buildings and activities
Non-residential buildings activities do not abound in the neighbourhood and this contributes to its
problems of depopulation.
• the progressive abandonment of commercial activity in the neighbourhood, an
element with a great capacity for urban regeneration, mirrored by the high rate of empty
premises and the disappearance of shops in some streets.
The persistence of the layout of the original urban network, along with the process of degradation in
the neighbourhood which has made it impossible to generate alternatives to revitalise it and
optimise its potential has rendered its public urban space, an essential resource in the
neighbourhood, obsolete. In this regard the weak points for a regeneration of the neighbourhood
are:
• the lack of suitability of the network of streets for the current urban mobility models.
The lack of car parks is one of the most oft-mentioned factors, although the configuration of
the network and its sizing are restrictive elements that affect many aspects of people and
material mobility in many areas of the NA
• highly deficient levels and quality of urbanisation in streets and public spaces,
limiting their service capacity even further, and therefore their collaboration in the process
of regeneration of the neighbourhood
• lack of public spaces as a support for civic activities in comparison with the rest of
the city, which detracts from the neighbourhood’s potentiality
• absence of green areas, heralding a major deficit in the environmental quality of the
neighbourhood, and even more so if we think of the added value of these types of spaces
among the urban population and the ecological role they provide for the urban medium.
Infrastructure deficiencies are one of the most serious and important weak points – in terms of any
possible actions for the reactivation of the neighbourhood - in the process of regeneration:
• lack of public transport crossing the neighbourhood, the former being limited to the
peripheral area. Accessibility is a determining factor in the neighbourhood’s regeneration
possibilities, and limitations on mobility restrict access by the usual models of public
transport
• degradation of the service infrastructure, making it difficult to maintain a service
quality level and discourage the implementation of new activities.
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4. Main challenges facing the neighbourhood

The main challenges to be addressed in the regeneration of the neighbourhood are:
4.1 To promote social programmes and for the generation of installations
The population must be released from the problems that limit its possibilities of transforming its
reality, which generates social integration and thus increases the neighbourhood’s regeneration
potential, namely its inhabitants.
Improving the situation of people affected by specific problems, such as low levels of income or
illiteracy and facing up to the integration of immigrants in the neighbourhood are the actions that
are called for to increase the social involvement of the current inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
The installation of the facilities needed to support these social programmes, as well as to bring the
level of personal services up to that of the rest of Manresa, is part of this challenge.
4.2 Regeneration of houses
The technical, financial and social complexity of the intervention in a complex and degraded fabric
such as the heritage of houses of the NA is a challenge of no small magnitude requiring equally
complex and different–scale strategies.
The accomplishment of a sufficient level of habitability – defined on the basis of criteria of
sustainability- must be one of the key challenges in rising to the regeneration of the neighbourhood.
4.3 Increase and adapt the public space
The extreme densification of the neighbourhood renders it necessary to perform clean-up operations
in order to invest the space that is freed to build quality public spaces.
These public spaces must play a decisive role in the strategies for the NA to become a new pole of
activities, and at the same time a model of definition of a sustainable urban space, where the spatial
component of the different logics that act in the urban territory reflects the consideration of this new
requirement of sustainability.
Models of mobility, material circulation, management of the water cycle and the recovery and use
of green areas are fundamental aspects in the definition of the neighbourhood’s public space.
4.3.1 Improvement of mobility
The improvement of mobility inside the neighbourhood, considering the type of activity of its
residents and their mobility characteristics, must provide access to everyday services free of
architectural barriers or risks.
Mobility from the outside to carry out activities inside the neighbourhood must be addressed as a
management of the demand for mobility for each one of the activities, managing resources for users
to be able to access them using the existing infrastructure with maximum efficiency. Mobility to the
outside requires resources based essentially on public transport.
4.3.2 Renovation of infrastructure
The necessary renovation of the neighbourhood infrastructure must be carried out from a
sustainability-driven basis vis-à-vis the mobility of the materials it supports.
The water management model, from collection in buildings and streets to waste waters; the
neighbourhood’s energy model, from the generation of solar energy to buildings and the efficiency
of public services; the material dynamics model, from the loading and unloading of products to
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selective refuse collection for recycling and the control of emissions into the air, are the issues to be
defined to adapt the type and sizing of infrastructure to the application of sustainable models.
4.3.3 Growth of green spaces
The creation of green areas leveraging the cleaning up of the neighbourhood and the remodelling of
houses must correspond to an environmental quality improvement strategy where the effect of
vegetation is central.
4.4 Promotion of economic activity
The regeneration of the neighbourhood requires the consolidation of economic activities to increase
income in the neighbourhood, to help to improve the urban space, quality of services and
commercial offer, affording, when all is said and done, prestige to the NA and thereby attracting
new residents, leading to a balanced quality of life in the neighbourhood and the rest of the city.
Trade, so sensitive to the urban quality of the environment, is one of the activities that provide
information on the conditions of the different points of the neighbourhood and which also establish
these conditions and attract other activities.
Leverage of the other potentialities of the neighbourhood, such as its built-up heritage or the historic
value of the NA, must also be reinforced with the installations required by the activities operating in
them.
However, the main challenge lies in the coordination of the different actions required for the
regeneration of the neighbourhood, which must be performed in coordination for the purpose of
mutual promotion and to avoid interferences or lost synergies.
Moreover, establishing models of sustainability based on the different action programmes
constitutes, more than an additional challenge, a resource for reinterpreting the remodelling of the
NA going forward, and for the purpose of stability.
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HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"RAVAL" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of BARCELONA
CAATB
Xavier Casanovas CAATB
Oriol Cusidó CAATB
European Union
CAATB 141
CONTENTS
1. SCOPE OF THE DIAGNOSIS....................................................................................... 143

2.1. Situation...........................................................................................................143
2.2. Limits...............................................................................................................143
2.3. Historical approach..........................................................................................143
2.4. The urban renovation.......................................................................................144
2.5. Population........................................................................................................145
2.6. Buit environment .............................................................................................146
2.7. Economical activity.........................................................................................148
2.8. The social environment ...................................................................................148
2.9. Environment ....................................................................................................148
3. STRONG POINTS FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.................................................. 149

3.1. Residential spaces and residents......................................................................149
3.2. Non-residential spaces.....................................................................................149
3.3. Public spaces ...................................................................................................149
3.4. Infrastructure ...................................................................................................150
4. WEAK POINTS THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ............................................................... 150

4.1. Residential space .............................................................................................150
4.2. Non-residential space ......................................................................................150
4.3. Public space.....................................................................................................151
4.4. Infrastructure ...................................................................................................151
5. MAIN STAKES FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD....................................................... 151

5.1. Residential space .............................................................................................151
5.2. Non-residential space ......................................................................................151
5.3. Public space.....................................................................................................152
5.4. Infrastructure ...................................................................................................152
CAATB 142
1. SCOPE OF THE DIAGNOSIS
This diagnosis concerns the neighbourhood of ‘Raval’, covering an area of 109,72 hectares (1,1 %
of Barcelona’s surface), considered statistically by the Statistic Department of the Town Council as
a ZEG (Great Statistical Zone).
Most of statistics concerning population are taken from the municipal statistics and are quite
updated. On the other hand, most of statistics concerning housing are from the State ‘Census’,
elaborated in 1991. The most recent census, elaborated last year, is not yet completely published.
Other data are taken from the statistics of the Catalan Statistical Institute, data from reports
elaborated by Foment de Ciutat Vella / PROCIVESA and different public inquiries about different
subjects (mobility,…).
Population: 37.498 inhabitants (2,49 % of Barcelona) / 2001
Housing units: 20.110 (3 % of Barcelona) / 1991
2. NEIGHBOURHOOD CHARACTERISTICS
2.1. Situation
Raval is one of the neighbourhoods that configure the District I of the city of Barcelona, a very
dense and consolidated urban area, the district that gathers the oldest neighbourhoods of the city,
called Ciutat Vella (meaning ‘Old town’ in Catalan) and located in the heart of it, perfectly
definited by the traces of the ancient wall built on the XIVth century.
Raval is the more recent neighbourhood of the district, developed as a extension of the ancient
medieval city.
2.2. Limits
It is physically delimited by 4 main boulevards, following the trace of the ancient walls. To the
north and west Ronda Sant Antoni and Ronda Sant Pau (‘Ronda’ means Round) separate Raval
from the Eixample, the new district developed since the end of the XIXth century outside the walls.
To the south, Paral.lel street separate it from Poble Sec and to the east, Les Rambles, the most
known Barcelona’s avenue, explain the western limit of the first ancient medieval city.
2.3. Historical Approach
The neighbourhood was born inside the second city walls, close to the ancient medieval town
(‘Rabad’ means suburb in Arabic). The second wall was built in the XIVth century when Barcelona
was still an important commercial capital in the Mediterranean. Until the XVIIth century ‘Raval’
was still a place of fields and cultures.
The growth of the neighbourhood began in the XVIIIth century and had its major development
during the industrial period: only from 1700 to 1850 the population grew about 17 times. The
construction of housing (really minimal and in bad conditions) was mixed with the development of
dirty industries along narrow and dark streets. The Raval became soon a periphery inside walls.
At the end of XIXth century, with the demolition of the walls and the expansion of the city, a lot of
industries moved outside the neighbourhood and Raval became an obsolete and corrupted area.
Poor people coming from the countryside and other regions of Spain came into the neighbourhood
and occupied the old housing.
At the beginning of XXth century the density was really high, up to 100.000 inhabitants and the
mortality rate was very important.
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2.4. The urban renovation
Since the beginning of democracy in Spain (1979), the Town Council has done enormous efforts to
recover the neighbourhood and to integrate it to the city. To pull down ‘the walls’ that separate
socially the neighbourhood from the city.
2.4.1. The situation before democracy
The housing stock was really obsolete, 70 % of housing were built before 1900, 2 % were under
collapse, 7.000 did not have toilet and only 10 % had lift. On other hand, the sewage was
unsatisfactory, most of housing had wiring of 125 V and only 60 % had gas supply. The area was in
decline. The commercial tissue was very damaged and living in the neighbourhood was socially
depreciated.
2.4.2. The urban planning tools developed to renovate the neighbourhood.
On 1976, ‘Pla General Metropolità de Barcelona’ (Metroplolitan General Plan) was approved,
proposed the opening of the great avenues across the old city planned by Ildefons Cerdà at the end
of the XIXth century, when he planned the extension of the modern city.
On 1979 the first democratic town council was elected and the process of renovation of the old
town began with the elaboration of specific plans for the old town, trying to overcome the general
options of the Metropolitan General Plan.
On 1983 three PERI (Special Plan of Internal reform) for Ciutat Vella where presented; an specific
one for the Raval. After surpassing a long time of discussions and two periods of public exposure it
was approved in 1985.
The common characteristics of the PERI were:
1. To promote operations in order to open new spaces in a too dense tissue (new public spaces,
to improve mobility,...).
2. To make concrete operations for creating new facilities to solve the great problems of
quality of life (schools, health centres, sport centres, facilities for aged people, for young
people,...)
3. To develop a programme to built new public housing. First of all, to satisfy the needs
created by the development of the urban planning, relodging the neighbours involved, and
then, at the end of that programme, to have a new and renovated stock of housing.
At the same time that the urban plan was approved, the town council developed the PAI (Pla
d’Actuacions Integrals – Integrated Action Plan), a global and more ambitious plan that had as main
objective the improvement of the quality of life in the degraded neighbourhood. The 5 main fields
of the Plan where urbanism, social welfare, security, economical activity and citizen relationship
and image.
On 1987 the old centre of Barcelona was declared Area of Integrated Renovation (ARI) by the
Catalan Government, an important step towards the successful renovation of the neighbourhood, so
it represented to have special aids to improve private renovation of buildings and an important
agreement between all the authorities with competencies in the planning framework.
Since 1988 ‘Promoció de Ciutat Vella’ (actually ‘Foment de Ciutat Vella’), a public institution
created by the Town Council, is in charge of managing the urban renovation of the neighbourhood.
2.4.3. The present situation of the operations of renovation

Last year (2001), more than ten years after the establishment of PROCIVESA (the public institution
that it is in charge of managing the renovation of the whole district of Ciutat Vella) finished the
most important plan for the neighbourhood, the ‘Central Plan’, the last step of a long way, that has
meant the destruction of many obsolete buildings, the construction of new social housing, the
development of new services (universities, museums,…), facilities for the inhabitants, and a lot of
qualified public space,….
Sixteen years after the approval of the PERI most of the planned operations have been already done.
The PERI planned 236 operations in whole Ciutat Vella (107 new ones were added) and actually 92
CAATB 144
% of the total are done, meaning the disappearing of 500 buildings (7,8 % of the total) and the
moving of the residents to new housing.
The liberated ground / land in whole Ciutat Vella (106.519 m² in 12 years, representing 2,3 % of the
district surface) was dedicated to:
- 57.252 m² to create new public space (streets and squares).
- 26,163 m² to create new facilities for the residents and for the city.
- 23.104 m² to promote 52 new buildings of social housing to relodge the affected families.
On the other hand, the town council has done an enormous effort to improve the quality of the
public space in the old city, renewing 80 % of streets and squares.
2.5. Population
The population of Raval was of 37.498 inhabitants at the beginning of 2001, representing 2,49% of
the total population of the city of Barcelona and 42,2% of the population of the district of Ciutat
Vella (88.793 inhabitants).
2.5.1. Density
The density of population, considering that the surface of the neighbourhood is only 1,1 Km², is
extremely high, reaching 34.089 inhabitants / Km², more than twice than Barcelona’s density
(15.195 inh./Km²), that is one of the cities with the highest degree of density in the world.
This fact decreased considerably with the constant loss of inhabitants since 1970 (more than
35.000), representing a descent of almost 50 %, four times more than the whole city, that only
decreased 13,74 %.
The highest degree of density is in the western part of the neighbourhood, overcoat the north area
from Joaquim Costa street and the western limit of the neighbourhood (more than 800 inhabitants /
hectare) and the area situated to the west of the new Rambla del Raval (between 400 and 800
inhabitants / hectare).
2.5.2. Diversity
The arrival of a great number of immigrants to the city is one of the main causes that changed the
tendency of these last 30 years, and Raval won 2.203 inhabitants in 2001 in relation to 2000. Raval
‘received’ almost 25 % of the growth of population of the whole city (9.059), 10 times more than
Barcelona in relation to population (0,6 % and 6,2 %) and 22 times more in relation to the surface
of the territory, as well as Ciutat Vella, that concentrated 50 % of the ‘new residents’.
Only between 2000 and 2002 the foreign population in Raval grew 80 %, representing 34 % of its
total population (19 % two years before and only around 7 % in 1996). The increasing of foreign
people, being the same, more or less, in Barcelona (from 3,57% in 2000 to 7,56 % in 2001) than in
Raval and Ciutat Vella, is much more obvious in these ones in regards with the total number of
inhabitants (1 for each 25 inhabitants in BCN and 1 each 6 inhabitants in Raval). As a consequence,
Raval gathers 12 % of the foreign residents of Barcelona, 10 times more than Barcelona taking into
account the surface of the territory. Raval concentrate the greatest number of immigrants coming
from Asia (21 % of them are from Pakistan and 17 % from Philippines). Only the distict of Ciutat
Vella, most of them in Raval, concentrate the 60 % of all the immigrants of the whole city coming
from south Asia, 40 % from Central Asia and 36 % from North Africa.
Most of foreign people live in the area of Joaquim Costa (people form Philippines) and the streets
near Rambla del Raval (natives from Pakistan and Morocco).
The recent data from the first statistics of 2003 show that the number of foreign residents has
grown to 47% of the whole population.
2.5.3. Age
The population of Raval is slightly older than Barcelona’s, and 1 of each 4 people living in the
neighbourhood is over 65 years. As a consequence, the number of retired people is much more
higher than in Barcelona (31 % instead of 21 %).
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But this situation is changing quickly with the arrival of foreign people, most of them younger than
40 years. More than 60 % of residents from Pakistan (representing 7 % of the population of the
neighbourhood) is between 25 and 39 years old.
2.5.4. Education
The educational level of population older than 16 is lesser in Raval than in Barcelona. 64 % of
population has only primary studies.
2.5.5. Activity and socio-economical profile
The degree of active population is lower in Raval than in Barcelona (40,9 % against 44 % in the
whole city) due to the previous reasons, and the degree of unemployment has been always much
higher than in the whole city.
Most of employed people are salaried workers (81 %), more or less the same that in Barcelona, but
the group of temporary is much higher (24,8 %).
The arrival and establishment of young people and artists in the neighbourhood means that 10,42 %
of the employed active population are classified as entrepreneurs without employees (more than in
Barcelona), but on the other hand, the number of businessmen with employees represent 3,4%
against 6,50 % in the whole city.
2.5.6. Economical capacity of families
Raval is the last neighbourhood (taking into account 38 statistical zones) if we consider the
economical capacity of families. If the average level of the city is 100 in Raval the rate is only 59,2.
2.5.7.Households / Fireplaces
In Raval it is better to talk about housing units or fireplaces than households, since 40,03 % of
housing units are not occupied by families, in front of 24 % of the whole city. This is an important
characteristic of the neighbourhood, due to the quality and size of accommodation. Most of this
non-familiar housing units are just a single person (95 % of them). So we can tell that almost 2 of 5
housing units are occupied only by one person.
The data of 2000 tells us that the most important group of population that lives alone is the
population aged between 75 and 79 years, representing 2% of the total population of the
neighbourhood.
2.6. Built environment
2.6.1. The urban weft

The weft is dense and very compact, due to an intensive process of private urbanization without any
planning. The surface of open space at the beginning of 70’s was 20 square cm per inhabitant.
Nowadays the system of open spaces only represent 7,4 % of the land, far away from the average
rate of a dense city as it is Barcelona (25 %).
The building form closed and irregular blocks, with small courtyards in the middle. The average
height is between 4 and 6 floors, too much for the narrow streets that surround them.
The density of built ceiling is already very high in the entire neighbourhood and some areas exceed
6 sq.m of ceiling for every sq.m of land.
2.6.2. Buildings
In Raval, there are 1.504 buildings (1990). Most of those buildings are housing buildings (90%), but
only 10 % are exclusively assigned to that function. In Barcelona that number of buildings assigned
exclusively to the function of housing is much more greater (33 %), fact that explains a little bit the
degree of complexity of the neighbourhood, where most of buildings share that function with other
uses.
Most of housing buildings have more than 3 housing units / apartments (98,5 %) and are grouped in
compact blocks. In all, there are 20.110 housing units in ‘Raval’ neighbourhood, 73,5 % used as
principal.
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2.6.3. The residential space

a. Density and occupation
In terms of density it is important to explain that in Raval there are 18.281 housing units par
hectare, while in Barcelona this data is only 6.757. Another important point to notice is that in
Raval there are 1,86 inhabitants par housing unit, less than in Barcelona (2,26), in spite of having a
higher residential density.
It is important to indicate that 22,6 % of housing units are empty, twice more than in Barcelona
(10,4 %).
b. Tenancy
Unlike Barcelona, where the degree of property of the principal housing is 61,47 %, in Raval the
most common is the renting, reaching 68,14 %. This data gets off with the previous descriptions
about the population (immigrants, young people,…) and the quality of accommodation, not suitable
for family households, more inclined (in Spain, where the sense of property is higher than other
European countries) to buy the flat / apartment where they live.
c. Social housing
Most of the new housing promoted by the public bodies is built to relodge the residents affected by
demolition of old buildings due to the urban planning operations. More or less, 5 % of the actual
stock of housing is ‘social’ housing.
d. Size
In Barcelona, most of housing units have between 61 and 90 square meters (45,9 %), but in Raval
the most common size is between 31 and 60 square meters, representing 46,1 % of the total. As a
consequence, while in the whole city one over five housing is over 90 sq.m in Raval that data
decreases to 1 over 10. This data agrees with the statistics about the occupation of housing units
explained previously.
e. Age
4 over 5 housing units in Raval are more than 60 years old, while in Barcelona this data is only 25
%. In Barcelona 50 % of housing were built during 1960 to 1980, the years of spanish immigration
to Catalonia and economical development. This is not translated into Raval, only 5 %, an already
dense and overbuilt area, and where the new building appeared as a consequence of the opening of
new spaces and the demolition of old building.
f. State and quality of housing stock
Since the foundation of ‘Rehabilitació de Ciutat Vella’, a public body in charge of giving aids to
promote the renovation of buildings and housing, more than 45 % of the housing stock has been
affected by a total or partial operation of renovation. But only 3,4 % of buildings have been
renovated integrally.
The process of renovation must go on, since only 5 % of buildings have lift and 14 % running
water.
2.6.4. Facilities and services
At the beginning of democracy the state of the neighbourhood was really desolate, since the
previous governments did not make any social, neither cultural, not even sanitary politics, in order
to improve quality of life in the neighbourhood. The new democratic planning took care of that
situation an developed specific programmes to create new equipment and facilities in the
neighbourhood.
The great public investments did not only improved the number of facilities for the residents (for
old people, for young residents, sport facilities, health centres,...), but also made and important
effort to promote new urban facilities at a urban scale, such as the new contemporean centre or the
the museum of contemporean art MACBA. These operations were focussed specially in the area of
the north of the neighbourhood.
2.6.5. Public space
As we explained before only 7,4 % of the land is not occupied by buildings. As a consequence of
that, the surface of green space for inhabitant is extremely low (2,5 sq.m.).
In the last years the municipality invested a lot of money in order to improve the quality of streets
and the creation of new squares. To be more coherent with an urban tissue not adapted for the use of
CAATB 147
cars, most of streets have been won by pedestrian use. There are almost 7 sq.m of pedestrian space
by inhabitant, seven times more than the average rate of the whole city.
The last big operation done in the neighbourhood is the creation of a big central square of 317
meters long (with the demolition of old buildings) that has as main objective to close the north and
the southern part of the neighbourhood. This is the first important vertical axes in the
neighbourhood.
2.6.6. Infrastructures and mobility

The municipality is doing an important effort to renovate all the urban services, taking profit of the
complete renovation of streets. More than 80 % of streets have been renovated.
The residents don’t use the car to travel inside the neighbourhood and most times uses the public
transport to go to other parts of the city, since Raval is, like the others neighbourhoods of Ciutat
Vella, one of the most accessible areas of the city. Most of travels done by car in the streets of the
neighbourhood are because work.
2.7. Economical activity
2.7.1. The economical sectors

The most important economical activity in the neighbourhood is the commercial activity, specially
the retail trade commerce (33 % of all the activities took on the census) and the activities from the
tertiary sector, such as cultural services, real state activities,...). The hotel business is also an
important activity due to the central position of teh area (13 %).
2.7.2. The commercial activity
The commercial activity of the neighbourhood, in spite of the central position of it in the city, is a
small scale commerce, specially focussed to residents, as it explains the important number of food
shops, representing more than 44 % of the total number. The Boqueria market, situated near Les
Rambles, the biggest commercial point of Raval is also very appreciated by the residents of other
neighbourhoods and it is considered the most popular market in Barcelona.
The commercial rate of Raval is higher than Barcelona’s (20 inhabitants par shop against 27). In
Raval there are 16 shops par hectare against 5 in Barcelona.
2.7.3. The tourist establishments
Raval gathers 26 % of all the hotels in Barcelona, but most of them are situated in the perimeter of
it, like in Les Rambles.
2.8. The social environment
2.8.1. The associations

Raval has a very dense and diverse network of associations, but this network is very fragmented.
Only in Ciutat Vella there are 66 different resident associations, 40 cultural ones and 56 sport clubs.
In spite of the high presence of association the degree of participation in them by residents is
extremely low. There are some associations focussed on the integration of immigrants.
2.8.2. Security
The feeling of security in Raval is lower than others parts of the city and the rate of crimes is
extremely high. This is also due to the central position of the neighbourhood and the presence of
tourists. The rate of attacks committed in public space is 21 by 1000 inhabitants in Raval against 3,5
in Barcelona. This rate has improved the last years.
2.9. Environment
2.9.1. Natural resources

In the whole district there are few buildings built using new renewable sources of energy, such as
solar panels. In 1990 only a 0,8 % of the buildings built used solar panels. This data is quite old,
and it is sure that it has improved, since last year appeared a new regulation in the city that forces
new buildings to install solar panels to produce hot water.
CAATB 148
2.9.2. Comfortability of built environment

The comfortability of built environment, not only from a urban point of view, but also from a
typological one, is very poor. The ancient urban configuration of the streets (too narrow) and the old
buildings (with many floors,...) cause that many streets are dark during all the day.
3. STRONG POINTS FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

3.1. Residential spaces and residents
a. The central position of Raval is an important fact to consider as a strong point to improve the
‘integration’ of the neighbourhood in the city. The operations done in the neighbourhood until the
moment succeed in that sense, opening a ‘closed’ area, making it more accessible for the citizens of
other parts of Barcelona.
b. The heritage value of buildings and sets of buildings can be an important point for the
neighbourhood, as an added value.
c. The existence of important public subventions for the private renovation is a strong point to
improve the renovation of Raval. We understand that we need some complementary tools, as it is
proved, to guarantee to complete and integral renovation of buildings.
d. The recent operations, removing obsolete buildings and creating new social housing, try to start a
new dynamics of private renovation in Raval.
e. The arrival of new residents can be valued as a negative thing, as it is a contradiction with the
effort of reducing the high degree of density, but we consider that the arrival of new residents
(different from the natives) are a positive factor for a territory. The neighbourhood attracts young
people from other neighbourhoods in a ‘gentrification’ process, but on the other hand concentrate
the arrival of most of foreign people from Africa and Asia.
f. The rejuvenation of an aged population. Most of foreign residents are young.
3.2. Non-residential space
a. a high complexity of functions. Only 10 % of buildings are only housing buildings (in Barcelona
33 %). In Raval the residential space mixtures with other uses, such as commercial activities or
productive activities, since a lot of ‘free’ professionals adapt the residential space and the low floors
as offices or workshops.
b. a high commercial density. Three times more than the city if we consider the density par surface.
c. an important presence of urban scale facilities. The neighbourhood has won a large number of
important facilities that has made the neighbourhood more attractive.
d. a dense network of association and clubs. The resident has more possibilities to participate in the
social life in the neighbourhood.
e. an important tourist potential. The neighbourhood has an important heritage value that is
important to valuate at the same time the traditional tourist areas are extended to other forgotten
parts of the neighbourhood.
3.3. Public spaces
a. Liberation of new open space. In an historical overbuilt area the municipality has libered land
with the demolition of obsolete residential buildings. These operations allowed to drain the sector
and to make it breathe.
b. Recuperation of the continuity of streets. The operation of opening the new big space of La
Rambla del Raval try to solve the problems of relationship and connectivity between the north and
the southern parts of the neighbourhood. Historically, all the internal flows in the neighbourhood
were done from east to west or from west to east.
CAATB 149
c. new spaces of citizen relationship. With the renovation of streets and squares, most of them
redefined appropriately with the presence of new facilities. La Rambla del Raval appears as a new
open big space that in a recent future will be revaluated with the construction of new housing and a
big ‘urban’ hotel
d. The historical configuration of the neighbourhood makes easy to obtain a proper degree of
density to keep alive and promote public space. The relationship between residential space and
public space is closer.
3.4. Infrastructure
a. The neighbourhood has a great accessibility (metro, bus, train,...) in public transport, on account
of its central position in the city. This transport is situated in all the perimeter of Raval. This is an
important added value, so it allows to develop an intensive pedestrian use of streets.
b. The need to already improve the infrastructure and services of most housing it is a good
opportunity to introduce more sustainable models for the management of water and energy.
c. The historical configuration of Raval helps to develop easier a sustainable model of mobility,
since the urban structure is not suitable to define models of use of car.
4. WEAK POINTS FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

4.1. Residential space
a. In spite of the great operations done during the last years, there area some areas in the
neighbourhood where the urban tensions of the historical tissue are still present. The operations
have been too focussed on concrete points of the territory and the renovation did not have an
extensive translation into all the territory.
b. a housing stock non diverse. IN spite of the operations the housing stock of the neighbourhood is
still no adequate to answer all the demands of the actual society. Not only for the lack of services
(lift, running water,...) but specially for its typological configuration. A concrete residential space
has as a consequence concrete residents.
c. An excessive social ‘specialisation’ due to the concrete conditions of the housing. The minimum
size did not allow to have families, and 40 % of the housing units are occupied by a single person.
d. The new residents occupy the areas of more degraded housing being more difficult the process of
renovation. The small flats are occupied by a great number of people.
d. The excessive concentration of new residents with a low economical capacity and low level of
formation did not help the process of renovation and accent the problems of social segregation.
There is not any politics to regulate that and integration of immigrants.
e. A too vacant residential space, since more than 23 % of housing is not occupied. It will be
interesting to recover this stock to plan new actions of renovation.
f. The renovation is only focussed on the great scale. It will be necessary to complement that with a
small scale operation
g. The private renovation is only focused on solving concrete problems and it do not exist a defined
programme and concrete tools to develop an ‘integral’ renovation of buildings.
a. to recover the ground floors of buildings for commercial activities and facilities. Some of them
are occupied by housing and that has as a consequence the ‘death’ of street as a place of citizen
activities.
b. to avoid tertiary and tourist specialisation as it is happening in some areas of the neighbourhood
recovered recently.
c. to avoid the commercial specialisation.
CAATB 150
d. Lack of a renovated productive sector. It will be interesting to develop the new economy and new
sectors in order to improve a diversification of the production and to improve the compatibility
between production and residential space.
e. Lack of citizen participation. In spite of having a very dense tissue of associations and clubs.
4.3. Public space
a. One of the weakest points of Raval is its relationship with the closer neighbourhoods. Except Les
Rambles to the east, the other limits are physical barriers that obstruct the continuity of streets and
public spaces.
b. Feeling of insecurity is an important problem to solve. Criminality increased a lot the last years.
4.4. Infrastructure
a. To solve the problems of accessibility of cars and vehicles, not for residents, but for the services
and supplies, to plan strategically the parking,...
5. MAIN STAKES FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

As a main stake, it is important to define a complete strategy of renovation, not only focused on
renovation of buildings, open paces,... such as physical elements, but also to consider the social and
economical variables (activities, residents,...). We entrust too much that the physical changes will
have concrete consequences on the other fields, but we think that is necessary to co-ordinate a
global operation, concerning different sectors (commercial, social, cultural,...), in order to
complement them and to reach a successful renovation process.
5.1. Residential space
To keep a politics of support of private renovation, insisting in the improvement of services (lift,
running water,...)
To valuate globally the renovation. To complete the private one with an integral renovation of
buildings, previous valuation of the possibilities of inhabitability. Further than façades.
To complement the great-scale operations with more attentive small-scale ones. Reduction of
height, cleaning of overbuilt courtyards,...
Valuation of heritage in the residential tissue, not only single buildings, but also sets of
buildings.
Promotion of social and public housing to guarantee the diversification of the housing stock. To
plan strategic operations in order to ‘cut’ the social specialisation of some areas.
To study the housing stock in order to recover buildings and to reintroduce vacant flats in a
global operation.
Design of the new housing and the old one in order to improve water and energy savings.
To favour the relationship between public space and private space.
To define the correct relationship between new buildings and empty-free space. To develop the
projects taking into account the heritage value of the urban tissue.
To promote more facilities at a urban scale in the other parts of the city.
To promote more facilities at the resident level. Adapted to a changing society
To recover the ground floors of buildings in order to improve the public space.
CAATB 151
To extend the tourist runs to the entire neighbourhood in order to improve the commercial
activity every where.
To promote the participation of residents to social and common activities.
5.3. Public space
To promote the pedestrian space. This renovation of streets must be accompanied of politics of
improvement of the commercial activities.
To re-plan the urban operations planning urban projects adapted to the singularity of each
‘corner’.
To link all the public space helping to the continuity of internal spaces and with the external
ones.
Clarify the uses of streets
To consider the heritage value of open spaces (form, configuration, architecture,...)
To develop green spaces and its linkage.
5.4. Infrastructure
To promote public transport inside the neighbourhood

To guarantee an equilibrated car flow reordering the accessibility. To promote the peripheral
parking avoiding the entrance of cars in the neighbourhood.
To promote the use of bicycles, developing special paths.
CAATB 152
HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"LOEBTAU" NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of DRESDEN
IOER
Holger Martin Institute of Ecological and Regional
Development (IOER); Department Urban
Development and Urban Ecology
Kerstin Hecker Institute of Ecological and Regional
Development (IOER); Department Urban
Development and Urban Ecology
European Union
IOER 153
CONTENTS
1. SCOPE OF THE DIAGNOSIS....................................................................................... 155
2. REDEVELOPMENT AREA .......................................................................................... 155

3.1. Population 156
3.2. Building stock / Housing 157
3.3. Public services and infrastructure 158
3.4. Local economy 160
3.5. Green space and derelict land 161
3.6. Image 162
4. POSITIVE ASPECTS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ............................................... 163
5. NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ............................................. 163

5.1. Main negative aspects 163
5.2. Other problems 163
6. ISSUES WITH NEED FOR ACTION ........................................................................... 164
7. REFERENCES................................................................................................................. 164
IOER 154
1. Scope of the diagnosis

Dresden Loebtau is a former workers quarter about 1 km west of the city centre. Railroad tracks,
partly abandoned good stations, an elevated road and large industrial brownfield sites separate the
area in the north towards the city centre and towards those parts of the town in the east of the area.
The boundaries of our investigation area are the boundaries of the redevelopment area Loebtau as
fixed by the city of Dresden in 2002 after the recent changes of the boundaries of the redevelopment
area and the combination of two previously separated redevelopment areas. The neighbourhood
comprises 59 hectare.
About 13.700 inhabitants live in the neighbourhood (number for the combination of the two former
redevelopment areas). The population is slightly increasing. It represents about 3% of the
population of the city with its 470000 inhabitants (still slightly decreasing).
Apart from the buildings along the two main roads an open coverage type is predominant in the
area. The neighbourhood is mainly a housing area with a mixture of residential and commercial use
along the main roads and some scattered commercial and social facilities. The eastern part of the
investigation area consists of industrials sites along the canalised river “Weisseritz” which marks
the boundary to the east. Large parts of the industrials properties are abandoned.
2. Redevelopment area
The neighbourhood chosen for the case study in Dresden-Loebtau coincides with the urban
redevelopment area Loebtau. Urban redevelopment areas according to the Building Code are a
special instrument in order to cope with derelict urban districts and with development related social
problems.
In officially declared urban redevelopment areas exist special planning regulations which among
other things regulate the real estate market. Usually public spending is concentrated on these areas.
Investments in these areas enjoy tax privileges. This planning instrument is useful and important to
support a development process in derelict areas and to control at least partly this process. Urban
redevelopment measures are always temporary.
Before designating an area as redevelopment area and as well during the process of redevelopment
the situation in the redevelopment area is examined in a more detailed way than in other parts of the
city. Therefore some data available for the redevelopment area are not available for other
neighbourhoods.
When the former redevelopment areas Loebtau North and Loebtau South were established in 1994
the reconstitution of the inhabitability of the existing buildings was in the centre of the
considerations. The main targets were to save the buildings which were in a very bad shape in this
time, to preserve the built structure of the neighbourhood as well as to improve the residential
quality combined with the preservation of reasonable prices for the rents in the area.
Since the beginning of the process of urban renewal a substantial share in the typical and historic
buildings could be preserved and refurbished. In some individual cases new buildings were
constructed adapted to the townscape. But only a small number of the buildings refurbished offers
moderate rents. The process of the reconstruction of the road network and the valorisation of public
and private green spaces is not advancing at the same scale.
The progress in the reconstruction of the residential buildings achieved in recent years and the
critical state of the areas outside the two redevelopment areas demanded for changes as well for the
targets of the process of the urban renewal as for the boundaries of the redevelopment area. The
main problems the area is facing now are a high vacancy rate of more than 20%, a high turnover
rate of the population (50% moved in the area in the last three years and there is a high disposition
to move out of the neighbourhood), a concentration of problematic areas on the edge of the
redevelopment areas and furthermore the enormous traffic on the two main roads in the area.
IOER 155
The new redevelopment area now includes the commercial centre of the district along a main road
in the north of the neighbourhood (Kesselsdorfer Strasse) and the area along the Tharandter Strasse,
a main road in the east with large abandoned industrial sites. The new targets with high priority as
fixed by the local town planning administration are the renewal of the commercial centre and the
area north of the Kesselsdorfer Strasse, furthermore the establishment of an adequate mixture for
the use of the properties along the Tharandter Strasse and third the amelioration of the supply with
green and open space.84
3.1 Population
Traditionally Loebtau has the function of a housing quarter with a tight connection to mixed and
commercial areas. The whole area of Dresden-Loebtau which exceeds the investigation area is
divided in the main parts. Only the southern parts of Loebtau North belong to the neighbourhood as
defined in the project. Loebtau North is traditionally a workers´ quarter. The roots of this workers´
quarter go back to the time before the last war. Its population consists of a persistent core of
immobile inhabitants and has on the other hand a high turnover rate. The people coming from
outside the neighbourhood stay in the area a short period of time only. South of the Kesselsdorfer
Strasse, the area which represents the major part of the investigation area, live more senior citizens,
less families with children and has a lower fluctuation of the population. The contiguous area in the
south of the neighbourhood on the slopes of the Weisseritz valley has a persistent population and
comprises mainly one family buildings for the better off.
In 2000 about 13.700 inhabitants lived in the area formed by the two former redevelopment areas
Loebtau North and South.85 The population is slightly increasing. But the number of inhabitants is
still reaching only about 84% of the population in the year 1990. In 1970 even 24.807 people lived
in the area. Now the population in the neighbourhood represents about 3% of the population of the
whole city with its 470000 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants of Dresden is still slightly
decreasing.
The share in inhabitants which live on social welfare exceeds the respective share in the whole city.
In Loebtau North 4,3% and in Loebtau South 3,6% of the inhabitants are welfare recipient in
comparison to 2,7% in the whole city. 86 Many senior citizens are living at poverty level. The
unemployment rate of with around 15% in 2000 was as high as in the whole city.
Especially young families and students move into the neighbourhood. They come to Loebtau
because the high vacancy rate, low rents and the proximity to the technical university. But they do
not stay long in the neighbourhood. A lacking infrastructure and the negative effects of the road
traffic make them leave the area after a short period of time. Young families also leave the
neighbourhood soon after moving into the area due to the short number of large flats.87
Quite a lot of senior citizens are moving into the neighbourhood.88 A large part of them moves in
from Gorbitz an adjacent part of the city consisting of prefabricated buildings. Often they had lived
on Loebtau already before moving to Gorbitz. During the times of the GDR the quality of life in the
newly constructed Gorbitz was better than in the declining area of Loebtau. A situation which has
changed meanwhile and turned around in favour of Loebtau and in disadvantage for Gorbitz.
84
Stadt Dresden: Überarbeitung der Neuordnungskonzepte für “Löbtau-nord” und “Löbtau-Süd” Juli 2001, p.49
85
population with registered residence , no secondary residences; Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden:
Statistische Informationen Dresden in Zahlen 2000
86
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Mitteilungen Dezember 2000, Sanierungs- und
Weiterentwicklungsgebiete in Dresden 1999
87
interview with Mr. Manzer; SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Sozialstruktur und
Wohnortbindung im Sanierungsgebiet Löbtau – Süd 1994 bis 2000, p 23; SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und
Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Entwicklung des Sanierungsgebietes Löbtau – Nord 2000, p 22
88
interview with Mr. Manzer; interview with Mrs. Nuetzmann
IOER 156
Furthermore at the borders of the neighbourhood exists a large complex which offers special
apartments and services for elder people.
In general the neighbourhood has a mixed population due to different standards of the
refurbishment of the buildings and therefore different levels of the rents in the same area. The
exchange of the population in recent years has only little effects on the structure of the age of the
inhabitants. Despite the senior citizens moving into the area as mentioned above there is a tendency
towards a juvenescence of the adult population.89
The average net income in Loebtau North and Loebtau South lies below the average of Dresden.
The income of households in Loebtau South with three and more persons is drastically below the
average of the whole city.90 In Loebtau North especially one-person-household are in a financially
non favourable position.
Due to the immigration of students the level of the academic qualification has increased in both part
of Loebtau. In Loebtau North the immigration of young professionals has raised the level of
academic qualification as well.
3.2 Building Stock / Housing
Typical for Löbtau is an open coverage type with three to four storey cubic buildings. Despite a
generally dense building structure the special design of the buildings at corners of the blocks and
generous, greened streets give Loebtau a pleasant atmosphere. In some parts of the neighbourhood
buildings were constructed in package type - mainly by housing co-operatives. Most of them are
now registered as architectural monuments.
In the redevelopment area of Loebtau South more than 70% and in Loebtau North more than 60%
of the buildings have been completely refurbished. 91 12% in both areas have been constructed since
1990.92 The situation outside the former redevelopment areas and in the commercial centre along
and north of the Kesselsdorfer Strasse is substantially worse. Both areas belong to the
neighbourhood in the case study. The buildings in areas dominated by industrial buildings, mixed
use, buildings used for public purpose, empty buildings and waste lands are in a particular bad state.
A large part of the residential buildings in the neighbourhood are registered as architectural
monuments. Most of them are meanwhile in a good condition. In the past some architectural
valuable buildings could not be maintained and had to be demolished and replaced by a new
building.
The process of refurbishment of the buildings in Loebtau got further ahead than in the whole city.
99% of the flat have new windows (64% in the whole city) and 49% modern thermal insulation
(43% in the whole city).93
Together with the adjacent district of Cotta Loebtau belongs to the areas with the highest residential
vacancy in Dresden. The residential vacancy is up to 24% (23,8% in Loebtau North and 22,7% in
Loebtau South – in the whole city the vacancy rate is at 14,2%.). 94 Since 1997 the vacancy in
Loebtau has decreased enormously (1997: Loebtau North 33,9% and Loebtau South 37,2%)
whereas in the whole city the vacancy level remained the same.
89
SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Sozialstruktur und Wohnortbindung im
Sanierungsgebiet Löbtau – Süd 1994 bis 2000, p 5; SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden:
Entwicklung des Sanierungsgebietes Löbtau – Nord 2000, p 4
90
SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Sozialstruktur und Wohnortbindung im
Sanierungsgebiet Löbtau – Süd 1994 bis 2000, p 15
91
Stadt Dresden: Überarbeitung der Neuordnungskonzepte für “Löbtau-nord” und “Löbtau-Süd” Juli 2001, p.11
92
As the structure of the settlement of Loebtau goes back to the 19th century it is estimated that all the new buildings
were constructed on properties which had already been used for construction.
93
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Informationen, Kommunale Bürgerumfrage 1998/99
94
Quelle: Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden Stand: 31.12.2001
IOER 157
The share in apartments adapted for wheel chairs and those suited for disabled persons is fairly low
(7 and 4%) but still slightly above the share for the whole city (6 and 2%).95
99% of the flats in the neighbourhood are occupied by tenants one percent of the apartments are
used by the owners themselves. In the whole city the share in apartments used by the owners
themselves is 9%.96
Between 1993 and 1999 573 apartments have been constructed or rehabilitated which were partly
subsidised by public spending. The share in flats constructed or rehabilitated with public subsidies
is in Loebtau North with 13,9% (1998) similar to the share for the whole city (12,1% 1999). For
Loebtau South this figure is much lower (5,7% 1998).97
3.3 Public services and infrastructure
children and youth

In the neighbourhood exists a youth house called T3 which offers to children and teenagers a
variety of possibilities for action. Furthermore it provides for consulting services. It is mainly
financed by the municipality. For some special projects the staff raises subsidies from other
institutions.98 The municipality keeps cutting down the money for the children and youth sector.
The mother and child group mobilised against this reduction but the rest of the population remained
indifferent. Meanwhile a large part of the work of the staff of T3 is done for free thanks to the
personal commitment of the members of the staff. As the youth house is situated directly on the
banks of the river Weisseritz the building and the equipment was seriously affected by a flood in
summer 2002. But they hardly received any help from the municipality in order to cope with the
damages. A bit outside the investigation area in the south there is another youth house, called
Plauener Bahnhof, which was even more effected by the flood. The protestant church also provides
for offers to children and teenagers open as well for those who are not members of the church. The
extent and variety of the offers by the church is much smaller than the possibilities offered by T3.
The adolescents, the “elder youth” does not use the offers of these institutions. They remain in the
neighbourhood but have no place to meet besides a square in the centre of the neighbourhood and a
sports field. As far as they become 18 and are allow to drive a car they leave the neighbourhood for
their leisure activities.
The leisure facilities are regarded as sufficient by a member of a staff of the youth house but the
problematic financial situation of the youth houses has serious impacts on the possibilities of these
institutions.99 The installation and reconstruction of play grounds in recent years has improved the
situation for the children a lot. Children and teenagers are able to reach the leisure facilities on foot
or by bicycle.
senior citizens
For elder persons the medical services and the possibility to reach the shopping and other facilities
on foot are of special importance. In recent years the quality of life for elder persons has improved.
In the neighbourhood exists a number of apartments which are accessible by wheel chairs and
adequate to the needs of elder persons – besides the large complex which offers special apartments
and services for elder people mentioned above. The shopping facilities are now spread on different
parts of the neighbourhood and no longer restricted to the Kesselsdorfer Strasse. They can be
95
96
97
data for the whole city: only when all the appartments in a building were subsidised; Stadtplanungsamt (letter from
Oct 2nd 2002), Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden, Landeshauptstadt Dresden: Stadterneuerung für Dresden
Überblick 1996 bis 1998, Dresden 1998
98
interview with Mr. Kuehnel
99
IOER 158
reached on foot and offer a good variety of shops. Now there are a sufficient number of doctors,
medical specialists as well, and pharmacies in the neighbourhood.100
There is a office and meeting point in the area run by the same large welfare organisation
(Arbeiterwohlfahrt) which run the housing complex for elder persons just outside the
neighbourhood. It offers room for activities and an event every day. It is financed by the
municipality and ought to be closed. But the senior citizens sticked up for the maintenance of the
meeting point.
sport
In the area owns very few and poor sport facilities. In Loebtau South there is a sports field and in
the north a bit outside the neighbourhood existed an old tennis court which has been destroyed by a
flood in summer 2002.
shopping facilities
The Kesselsdorfer Strasse in the north of the neighbourhood is the commercial centre of the area.
Additionally there are some small and medium sized stores spread in the area. Still many
inhabitants do their shopping at the large megastores in the outskirts of the city or in the specialised
shops in the city centre.
culture
As a former workers´ quarter the neighbourhood has no cultural tradition. Especially the lack of a
cinema is complained.101 The church tried to establish a new location for cultural events with movie
screening and concerts. But the response by the people was poor. This was partly due to the
difficulties everyone faces when trying to establish a new location in an area without any tradition
in cultural life and partly because the rooms used for the events were inside the complex of the
church which represents an obstacle for some people.102 A bit outside the investigation area in the
south there is a municipal library serving the districts of Loebtau and Plauen. For cultural and other
leisure activities the inhabitants mainly use the possibility offered in the city centre and other parts
of town.
road network, traffic and public transport

The neighbourhood is connected with the city centre and other parts of town by tramway and local
bus services which operate at a sufficient frequency. During the night a night tramway line and a
night bus route are operating. One bus line goes across the neighbourhood – especially important
for elder people to ease them to move within the area. Regional bus lines link the area with adjacent
villages and small towns. The railway station for suburban services in the south at the edge of the
neighbourhood in closed due to a flood in summer 2002. It will be closed for a long time as the
repair of the widely destroyed railroad tracks will last for years. The accessibility of the public
transport is considered as good. All inhabitants live in a distance of up to 300m to the next tramway
of bus stop.103
Two main roads dominate the road system of the neighbourhood. The emissions noise and
pollutants resulting from the traffic of these roads have a strong negative impact on the quality of
life in the neighbourhood.104 Additionally also the traffic on the small streets causes a strong street
noise as the cars run to fast for a residential neighbourhood and as the streets are paved. The state of
repair of the roads and footpaths is poor. Especially the sidewalks are mainly in a bad shape.
100
interview with Mrs. Nuetzmann
101
interview with Mr. van de Loo, interview with Mr. Manzner
102
interview with Mr. Manzner
103
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden, before the railway station at Dresden-Plauen had to be closed all
inhabitants also lived up to 600m to the next railway station – for the new situation no data is available
104
Stadt Dresden: Umweltatlas Dresden 2001
IOER 159
Possibilities for parking bicycles are widely missing. Whereas the number of car-parks is sufficient
for the neighbourhood.105
The main road and commercial centre of the area represent a barrier for children which are too
dangerous for them to cross. 106 Many parents forbid their children to cross this street. In the
administration there is the idea to restrict the Kesselsdorfer Strasse to local traffic only as they are
constructing a tunnel for the transit traffic north of the neighbourhood.107
3.4 Local economy
Loebtau has one main shopping street, the Kesselsdorfer Strasse situated in the middle of Loebtau
North and Loebtau South. Beyond this exists a number of businesses spread in the neighbourhood
which are able to meet the short-term demand of the inhabitants.
In former times the Kesselsdorfer Strasse the commercial centre of Loebtau was one of the most
important shopping streets in Dresden. Only the Old Town could attract more customers. Nowadays
a lot of shops and houses are vacant in this street. Especially those houses which have been vacant
for a longer period of time are in a bad condition and give a bad appearance to the street. But in
recent years the number of businesses has been increasing. A development which has been
supported by the process of urban redevelopment in the area. Between 1994 and 2000 a vast
majority of businesses have been abandoned and many new ones have been established.108 Despite
these enormous changes there still exists a commercial structure with strong connections to the
neighbourhood. A considerable number of tradesmen live in the same house where the shop is
situated.109
The location close to the city centre, a well operating public transport and the structure of the
inhabitants have positive effects on the development of the commercial activities.110 The positive
development of recent years does not guarantee a promising future perspective. The problem is
more the turnover than the level of rents.111 There is a strong competition with the city centre. On
the Kesselsdorfer Strasse exists a wide variety of branches. But it is lacking in one-line shops. For
the medium and long-tern demand the people need to go somewhere else – to the city centre or the
large stores at the outskirts of the city. The commercial structure is living on the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood as the majority of the customers comes from the neighbourhood. For the main road,
Kesselsdorfer Strasse, an equal situation can be observed.112
Generally the situation of the local business is considered as stable which does not exclude that
some shop will have to close in unfavourable areas.113 A lack of investors who are interested to be
engaged in the main shopping street has its share in this stagnant situation.114 Especially in the area
north of the Kesselsdorfer Strasse no development is expected. The complains by an association of
local business men about a lack of car parks is regarded as an attempt to lay the blame on the
administration when the business is in difficulties.115
105
SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Entwicklung des Gewerbes in den
Sanierungsgebieten Löbtau-Süd und Löbtau-Nörd, p. 11, no year given
106
interview with Mr. van de Loo, interview with Mr. Kuehnel, inteview with Mr. Manzner
107
interview with Mr. Seifert
108
the total number of businesses has increases in this period of time, SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung
GbR Dresden: Entwicklung des Gewerbes in den Sanierungsgebieten Löbtau-Süd und Löbtau-Nörd, p. 2, no year given
109
interview with Mr. van de Loo
110
111
tentants with elder treaties pay higher rents than those who established their business more recently, interview with
Mr. van de Loo
112
Interview Mr. Seifert
113
inteview with Mr. van de Loo
114
115
those who just cross the area would not stop anyway, interview with Mr. Seifert
IOER 160
Despite the number of employees per company of very small all the businesses in the area together
offer quite a lot of jobs. But within the existing companies no increase of jobs is expected.116
An association of local business men is active in the neighbourhood which concentrates its activities
on the main shopping street. It published a brochure showing all the businesses in the area. It
intends as well to present all existing businesses and to prepare a documentation of the premises of
the Kesselsdorfer Strasse including photographs in the internet in order to find out together more
easily the possibilities for the improvement of the street with small actions. They see themselves as
the only contact in the neighbourhood as far as business affairs are concerned.
Once a business woman persuaded a houseowner to make available his vacant shop to show
photographs of old Loebtau. But this was the only activity to use vacant commercial space for non
commercial activities..
3.5 Green space and derelict land
There is quite little green space in the neighbourhood also between the buildings. The front gardens
and backyards are mainly not usable as green space. Often they are used as car park especially of
the those premises where the buildings have been recently reconstructed. But there has been done
quite a lot for the children as many new playground were built.
In the neighbourhood exists only one relevant green space, the Bonhoeffer Platz. It has been
reconstructed in recent years and has a pleasant atmosphere with a lot of green and large trees. With
a surface of one hectare it covers less than 2% of the whole the surface area – a third less than the
share in the recreational area in the whole city. As it is the only green area every group of the
population is using their own corner of the square and tries to avoid contact to other groups.
Especially the noise caused by the youth produces anger by the elder people.
Outside at the edge of the investigation area there is a graveyard with many tall trees.117 Including
the surface of the graveyard a bit less than 20% of the surface of the neighbourhood in used for
green space which is about three quarters of the share for the whole city.118 The graveyard is not
used as a green space as it could be according its size and its attractive green. Only elder people and
sometimes parents with their children use it to take a walk. Furthermore exist in the neighbourhood
some small squares which are too small and in a fairly bad condition to be considered as usable
green spaces.
contaminated land
The areas which are suspected to be contaminated cover more than 20% of the neighbourhood.119
They comprise mainly former industrial premises along the river Weisseritz.120 It is not intended to
clean those sites as long as no immediate danger results from this contamination. But this
contamination makes difficult a future use of these sites. Most of them are abandoned. A high flood
in summer 2002 which severely affected the area on both banks of the river showed the risks
resulting from the contamination’s.
116
117
Stadtplanungsamt Dresden; Stadt Dresden: Überarbeitung der Neuordnungskonzepte für “Löbtau-nord” und
“Löbtau-Süd” Juli 2001; Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Informationen Dresden in Zahlen
2000
118
for the whole city: recreational areas, forests and graveyards; Stadtplanungsamt Dresden; Stadt Dresden:
Überarbeitung der Neuordnungskonzepte für “Löbtau-nord” und “Löbtau-Süd” Juli 2001; Kommunale Statistikstelle
der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Informationen Dresden in Zahlen 2000
119
the share for the whole city is 15% and for the building land only 26%; Umweltamt der Stadt Dresden
120
H und M Ingenieurgesellschaft für Energie- und Umwelttechnik mbH: Objektbezogene Auswertung und
Überprüfung von Altlastenunterlagen im Rahmen des Stadtteil-Entwicklungsprojekt Weißeritz; Dresden 2000
IOER 161
derelict land
Large areas of the neighbourhood consist of unused and derelict land. These premises are situated
mainly in the centre of the neighbourhood and along the Tharandter Strasse in the east where they
dominate those areas.121 These derelict sites have a strong negative impact on its surroundings. In
the areas with many unused premises hardly any building has been rehabilitated so far as the owners
fear that they are not able to let the apartments or shop at a rent that allows to refinance their
investments. Furthermore the derelicts sites harm the image of the neighbourhood as a whole.
A provisional and temporary use of derelict premises would be a good solution in order to reduce
the negative impact on the neighbourhood. This could be a simple greening or a levelling of the site.
This idea is supported by the local administration. 122 But the supervisory authority and the
municipal administration have a critical position towards this as they do not support the spending of
public money for private properties. For one site in the centre of the neighbourhood a simple
greening of the site was done. But for other properties the attempt to realise a temporary use failed
due to a blockade by the municipal planning authority and a lack of co-operation by the land
owners. Especially banks are extremely uncooperative land owners. They want to sell their
properties at a price as high as possible and are not interested in the development of the
neighbourhood at all.
3.6 Image
The former bad image of the neighbourhood as a workers´ quarter between polluting industry has
change meanwhile.123 As the industrial firms have been closed or installed cleaning techniques and
as there are a lot of attractive old and refurbished buildings it has become a popular area with many
people moving in the area from the other part of the city. Especially young people come to the
neighbourhood and there are in consequence many young children. Now the image of the
neighbourhood as seen from the outside is better than the real situation with its lack in cultural
infrastructure and green spaces.124
3.7 Social life
The people who have been living long time in the area have a connection to the neighbourhood.
They have their structures in the area and do not want to create something new. But a lot of the
connections have been lost during the changes in recent years. The new inhabitants do not feel these
connections.
In the Loebtau the atmosphere is relatively peaceful and anonymous.125 Each part of the population
cares about its own affairs and has few contacts to other people. There is no acceptance or
integration of different parts of the society. It is rather fear which rules the contacts between the
different groups.126 The meeting point of the welfare organisation for elder people does not provide
for a connection of different generations. The youth house has contact to other youth houses in the
district. But there is no connection to other parts of the society.127 The church does not co-operate
with the welfare organisation or the youth house either. Partly this is due to the bad reputation the
church has in general. It is confronted with a cultural foreignness. There is a rough way to interact
121
Stadtplanungsamt Dresden; Stadt Dresden: Überarbeitung der Neuordnungskonzepte für “Löbtau-nord” und
“Löbtau-Süd” Juli 2001; Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Informationen Dresden in Zahlen
2000, p16
122
123
interview with Mrs. Nuetzmann, interview with Mr. Seifert
124
125
126
127
IOER 162
with each other in the neighbourhood. It exist different youth groups. But they do not act against
each other. The youth has little disposition to use violence.128
Between the different groups of the population there is a strong company, e.g. between the senior
citizens who come to the office and meeting point run by a welfare organisation. Sometimes the
welfare organisation co-operates with a kindergarten or the music school. And once a year the
association of local business men organises a street party on the Kesselsdorfer Strasse with the
participation of among others the church and a school. Unfortunately the party was poorly attended.
4. Positive aspects of the neighbourhood

• area attractive from the outside
• economically priced rents
• good connections by public and private transport
• no prefabricated buildings
• basic infrastructure available
5. Negative aspects of the neighbourhood

5.1 Main negative aspects
• many derelict sites

• few and too intensively used green spaces
• great street noise
• dangerous and unattractive main streets (especially for kids)
• no cultural infrastructure
• no retail for medium and long-term demand
5.2 Other Problems
• little possibilities for local administration due to lack in money and in premises owned by public
bodies
• little possibilities to realise the temporary use of derelict sites
• little legal possibilities to make owners of properties upgrading their sites
• public premises next to the grave yard cannot be used as meeting point for the youth due to the
restriction for use of area near graveyards
• few jobs
• number of thefts above average
• some stakeholders criticise municipal administration to act slow and immobile and barely
reasoned
128
interview with Mr. Manzner; interview with Mr. Kuehnel
IOER 163
6. Issues with need for action

• less and more quiet road traffic
• more green spaces
• better environmental performance of already renovated buildings
• more large flats
• reuse of abandoned sites
Proposals for action made by stakeholders
senior citizens:
• tear down declining buildings
church:
• improve the infrastructure
• less traffic on the Kesselsdorfer Strasse
• clean derelict sites
• make interesting for business people
local trades men:

• more parking lots
• improve the identity of the area
• install a centre of the neighbourhood with meeting points
• investments in the public space
• manager of the street (Kesselsdorfer Strasse) publicly financed but working within the
association of the local tradesmen
local administration:
• improve empty sites
• invest public money in the image of the neighbourhood (parking lots, green spaces)
7. References
H und M Ingenieurgesellschaft für Energie- und Umwelttechnik mbH: Objektbezogene Auswertung
und Überprüfung von Altlastenunterlagen im Rahmen des Stadtteil-Entwicklungsprojekt Weißeritz;
Dresden 2000
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Stadtteilkatalog 2001
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Informationen, Kommunale
Bürgerumfrage 1998/99
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Informationen Dresden in Zahlen 2000
Kommunale Statistikstelle der Stadt Dresden: Statistische Mitteilungen Dezember 2000,
Sanierungs- und Weiterentwicklungsgebiete in Dresden 1999
Landeshauptstadt Dresden: Stadterneuerung für Dresden Überblick 1996 bis 1998, Dresden 1998
Landeskriminalamt Dresden: Kriminalstatistiken 2000, 2001
IOER 164
Sanierungsgebieten Löbtau-Süd und Löbtau-Nörd
SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Entwicklung des
Sanierungsgebietes Löbtau – Nord 2000
SAS Regional-, Verkehrs- und Umweltforschung GbR Dresden: Sozialstruktur und

Wohnortbindung im Sanierungsgebiet Löbtau – Süd 1994 bis 2000;
Stadt Dresden: Überarbeitung der Neuordnungskonzepte für “Löbtau-nord” und “Löbtau-Süd” Juli
2001
the interviews were done with:
Frau Nützmann, AWO Begegnungsstätte , Hainsberger Str. 2
Herr Kühnel, Jugend- und Projekthaus T3, Tharandter Str. 3
Herr van de Loo,Vorsitzender des Gewerbevereins Kesselsdorfer Straße e.V., Büro: Hohe Straße
12
Pfarrer Herr Manzer, Hoffnungskirche, Clara-Zetkin-Str. 30
Herr Seifert (Ortsamtsleiter), Ortsamt Cotta, Lübecker Str. 122
IOER 165
HQE2R
S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF
"LINDEVANGEN" NEIGBOURHOOD
in the city of FREDERIKSBERG
Cenergia
Ove Mørck Cenergia
Dorthe Fredsgaard Svendsen Tuvalu
Anne Alstrup Avnby Frederiksberg Kommune, Bolig- og

ejendomsafdelingen
European Union
Cenergia 166
CONTENTS
1. THE HOLISTIC URBAN RENEWAL

OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD LINDEVANG ................................................................. 168
1.1. Background 168
1.2. Sustainable goals for the neighbourhood 168
2. GOALS.............................................................................................................................. 169
2.1. Improvement of the housing standard 169
2.2. Improvement of the public and recreational areas of the neighbourhood 169
2.3. Improvement of the social conditions 170
2.4. Reduction of environmental pressure 170
Cenergia 167
1. The Holistic Urban Renewal of the Neighbourhood Lindevang

1.1 Background
In 1998 the municipal council for Frederiksberg municipality decided on an overall comprehensive
holistic urban renewal plan for a neighbourhood within the municipality, the area named
Lindevang. This effort covers the year 1999 to 2004 and is based on a urban renewal programme
drawn up jointly by the tenants and the municipality.
The object of the holistic urban renewal in Denmark is to implement and co-ordinate the measures
with a view to creating a well functioning neighbourhood and further to improve the basic general
living conditions. The urban renewal effort especially target neighbourhoods where there are a
majority of essential problems, especially as regards structural, social, cultural and problems as to
traffic.
Together with the decision of an urban renewal plan for the neighbourhood Lindevang it was
decided to draw up a special social policy for the area and employ a “green” social worker for a 3-
year-period. The visionary plan regarding the social policy on housing at Frederiksberg
municipality aims at:
• To ensure that the housing sectors which today are viable and well functioning will stay in this
way.
• Housing sectors which are estimated to experience beginning social problems should be offered
assistance before the problems develop in adverse directions.
• The housing sectors with social problems should be offered assistance, and the implementation
of initiatives should then make the areas sustainable and well functioning again.
• This effort should be planned and carried out in cooperation with the tenants.
• The idea is that these efforts are to be firmly rooted within the programmes of the local tenants’
committees/groupings.
On this background the “green” social worker for the neighbourhood Lindevang has had the job of
taken an initiative to and start the activities regarding the environmental measures for the
neighbourhood and involving the tenants in this. The employment of the “green social worker” will
be terminated mid 2002. However, it has been decided to continue the social effort on a smaller
scale with the appointment of another social worker in autumn 2002.
1.2 Sustainable goals for the neighbourhood
No explicit goals have been defined for the overall holistic comprehensive urban renewal effort or
the socio-housing related efforts for the neighbourhood Lindevang. The identification of the goals
for the development is based on:
• The implicit goals to be decided on in the choice of a focus area for the urban renewal
programme for the neighbourhood.
• Visions for the socio-housing effort in Frederiksberg municipality as mentioned above.
• General goals for Frederiksberg.
An interpretation of the goals for the neighbourhood Lindevang and for Frederiksberg municipality
as compared to the goals suggested in the HQE2R-project shows that generally speaking all of the
HQE2R goals can be found in the visions and the goals of the municipality, but to be found on a
smaller scale in the urban renewal programme. On a whole the goals and the visions of the
Cenergia 168
municipality for the neighbourhood Lindevang must be said to reflect an idea of sustainable
development for the said neighbourhood provided that the sustainable goals drawn up in the
HQE2R-project give a total scenario of the sustainable development.
2. Goals
At present we can identify 4 goals for the overall view on urban renewal.
• A continued improvement of the housing standard

• A continued improvement of the public and recreational areas of the neighbourhood.
• A continued improvement of the social conditions.
• A reduction of the environmental pressure on and from the neighbourhood.
2.1 Improvement of the housing standard
This goal is about the furthering of sustainability in HQE2R targets 3 and 14 respectively (to secure
a varied housing supply, and to further the standard of the habitation) and is related to the superior
goal of sustainability in order to further the quality of life for the neighbourhood citizens.
As compared to the general housing standard first and foremost the idea is to rise all of the housing
units to an acceptable level which means the installation of lavatories and baths in all apartments, to
install central heating in the housing blocks which are still without this.
In order to increase the social integration and diversity the goal is to draw a new type of citizens to
the neighbourhood, however, it is also important to give the citizens now living in the area the
opportunity of remaining in the neighbourhood, and efforts are made to establish bigger apartments
by utilising the top stories and by joining smaller apartments into bigger ones. Thus the expectation
is that these measures will attract families with children.
2.2 Improvement of the public and of the recreational areas of the neighbourhood
It is not quite clear which sustainable targets this statement relates to. Among other things this is
about the integration of the neighbourhood to the town (target 5), for example the renovation of the
Lindevangsparken, the establishing of an icerink etc. will attract citizens from other parts of the
town. At the same time it deals with the furthering of environmental transport (target 6), improved
conditions for bicycles, cross field paths, pavements etc. all initiatives which are expected to further
non motorised transport. Finally the goal deals with an improvement of the visual comfort
(mentioned in the HQE2R-project) regarding the aim to create inviting and green surroundings for
the residents.
The surrounding areas for the neighbourhoods have for many years been characterised by a general
wear and tear, failing attraction and use. However, it is an explicit goal to renovate the communal
areas for the neighbourhood and consequently make this more attractive. Certain areas have already
been renovated, among these Lindevangsparken, but other areas are still waiting for their turn. The
challenge is really to create better recreative areas, cross field paths around former railway systems,
better pavements, improved conditions for cyclists by extending the paths, and the pacification of
Wilkensvej which runs through the neighbourhood. An upgrading of the public areas with an
improvement of the accessibility, and the visual comfort for the citizens will also strengthen the
local affiliations. An improved public space is expected to increase the numbers of people in the
streets and more jointly arranged events in the community. Finally, this is actions that will improve
Cenergia 169
the integration with other neighbourhoods in the municipality because the neighbourhood becomes
more attractive to visit.
2.3 Improvement of the social conditions
This goal is about the furthering of sustainability target 20 and 21 respectively as drawn up in the
HQE2R-project and related to the superior sustainability targets regarding the furthering of the
social integration of the neighbourhood.
Here the social effort which is carried out by the employment of a social worker as well as the
opening of the “Lindevang Shop”, a local house of activity, has had great importance for the
strengthening of the local integration. The future of the “Lindevang Shop” has been uncertain,
however, the housing association which owns the block of buildings where the shop is situated has
agreed to continue to place the premises at the disposal of the tenants. The municipal grant covering
the employment of the social worker ceases by the end of 2004, therefore, it is important to secure a
continued strengthening of the local activities until the end of the employment.
The initiatives of including the citizens in the overall comprehensive urban renewal are also of
importance for the social conditions, even though the process of including the citizens do not
always work as well as one could wish for. The fact that the citizens are included in the decision
making process concerning the events in connection with the urban renewal of their neighbourhood
is expected to increase their interest for the neighbourhood and for the relations between the
habitants.
2.4 Reduction of environmental pressure
This goal is related to several of the sustainable targets (7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19) and
especially related to the two superior goals concerning the furthering of life quality and the
protection of “green” values.
The intentions of the holistic urban renewal are that the urban ecological measures are to be
implemented as part of the urban renewal effort which appears from the action programme for the
general oriented urban renewal. The municipality has also tried to further this aspect especially by
giving the social worker the assignment to strengthen the neighbourhood not just socially but also
environmentally by way of dialog and cooperation with all relevant parties. However, the social
effort has had the highest priority which has lead to that no special environmental efforts have been
initiated. Therefore, it is imperative that this aspect is given priority in the years.
Cenergia 170
HQE2R
INVENTORY AND S.D. DIAGNOSIS OF

"COMMUNITY AT HEART"
NEIGHBOURHOOD
in the city of BRISTOL
UWE
Celia Robbins UWE
European Union
UWE 171
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 173
WORKSHEET 1 .................................................................................................................. 175
WORKSHEET 2 .................................................................................................................. 177
WORKSHEET 3 .................................................................................................................. 183
WORKSHEET 4 .................................................................................................................. 185
WORKSHEET 5 .................................................................................................................. 187
WORKSHEET 6 .................................................................................................................. 189
WORKSHEET 7 .................................................................................................................. 194
WORKSHEET 8 .................................................................................................................. 196
WORKSHEET 9 .................................................................................................................. 198
WORKSHEET 10 ................................................................................................................ 200
UWE 172
Introduction
Purpose
The aim of this document is twofold:
• To initiate a process in CAH of thinking through how sustainability impacts on different aspects
of its programme.
• To act as a first draft of a ‘sustainability audit’ for the area, which will lead to prioritising areas
for action.
From this starting point, it is hoped that CAH will be able to explore ways to build sustainability
more strongly into delivery planning, project appraisal and evaluation.
Structure
The current structure of the sustainability audit is based around the CAH outcome areas. It is
recognised that these are under review, so it may be necessary to change the structure accordingly.
Each section (‘worksheet’) of the audit deals with one outcome area (plus a few tentative additions
to cover topics that the outcome areas are weak on) and includes:
• A short discussion of what sustainability means for that area

• Sustainability targets from the HQE2R project (local people may want to add more)
• A list of different indicators that could be used to measure progress, these are from three main
sources; HQE2R, Bristol City Council and the Audit Commission
• A very short summary of the data currently available on these indicators (the data that we have
is presented in the Appendix for each section)
• A very short summary on whether the data we have allows us to make any comment on the
sustainability of the neighbourhood.
Each section has an Appendix that shows the data currently available on that topic. The sources
used are:
• CAH Business Survey

• CAH Baseline data (Delivery Plan)
• Bristol City Council Lawrence Hill Ward Indicators
• HQE2R Sustainable Neighbourhood Research
This is by no means a comprehensive data set, it should be updated according to priorities decided
locally.
The sustainability audit is a work in progress; ideally each section will be discussed with the
relevant outcome groups, then revised and supplemented accordingly. The appendices will be
UWE 173
supplemented as new data sources become available. These include the MORI survey that was done
as part of the national NDC evaluation project. The national evaluation team is also working on sets
of statistical data specific to the CAH area.
Definitions
The words sustainability and sustainable development do not have fixed meanings. Many
organisations do not have a coherent view of what they mean by them. These meanings cannot be
defined externally, but are political and ethical questions that people/ organisations must decide for
themselves. The HQE2R project can help to set the agenda and guide thinking on these topics, but
the extent to which CAH adopts sustainable development as a goal can only be decided locally.
The sustainability audit uses the terms ‘social and economic sustainability’ and ‘environmental
sustainability’. It is vital to keep in mind the concept that all aspects of sustainability are
inextricably linked, but for practical purposes of awareness-raising and actually acting on these
principals, they might usefully be separated.
Focus on environmental sustainability

What CAH has set out to do from the outset could be defined as working towards social and
economic sustainability for the neighbourhood. The importance of improving social and economic
conditions is not in question, and it is not the role of this document to reiterate this. The aim here is
to attempt to integrate ideas around environmental sustainability with the social and economic goals
which have driven the process so far.
Environmental sustainability has not been high on the agenda for CAH to date. This might be
because the majority of people do not see environmental sustainability as vital in improving their
quality of life; CAH has been very clear in taking the lead for its priorities from local people, and
this issue has not come through strongly. There is, however, an awareness within the organisation
that CAH should be able to demonstrate its sustainability credentials, arising in part from a degree
of political pressure from central government and the regional office. Promoting the concepts of
sustainability, and environmental sustainability in particular raises the difficult issue of ‘who knows
best?’. If the people of Barton Hill are not demanding help in reducing their contribution to global
warming, is it the role of CAH to tell them this is an issue they should care about? Or should
environmental sustainability be accepted as a guiding principal that is built into all projects in the
same way as equal opportunities or health and safety?
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WORKSHEET 1.
Aims Key Projects
• To substantially reduce levels of • Employment links project
worklessness in the NDC area • Business adviser
• To create an environment that encourages • Education and business project
enterprise and sustainable business growth • Neighbourhood assets management
• Vocational training programme
What does sustainability mean for this outcome area?

- Social and economic sustainability
The promotion of social and economic sustainability is at the core of this outcome area, and this is
reflected in the Delivery Plan. By providing jobs, economic sustainability may be seen as one of the
foundations of social sustainability, since employment gives individuals income, stability and self-
esteem as well as being for some an alternative to anti-social behaviour.
A key question is the extent to which the economic, employment and shopping needs of the
population can be met from within the neighbourhood. A shift in the balance towards self-
sufficiency might benefit the neighbourhood’s sense of confidence and pride as well as its economic
well-being. The current employment and economy programme of CAH focuses on improving
peoples’ chances of earning a steady income. The benefits of this programme would be magnified if
there were more opportunities for that income to be spent in locally- or community-owned
businesses.
- Environmental sustainability
There is huge scope for consideration of how employment and business might contribute to
environmental sustainability. This might be approached in a number of different ways:
• minimising the environmental impact (resource use, pollution etc.) of existing business,
• supporting businesses with low environmental impact,
• promoting businesses which make a positive impact on the environment (local food links,
reclamation and recycling, sustainable energy).
HQE2R Sustainability targets

1. To maintain or reinforce the diversity of the population
(A range of occupations and incomes)
2. To maintain or reinforce the diversity of neighbourhood functions

(A wide range of services, employment and economic opportunities within the neighbourhood)
How can we measure progress?

HQE2R Indicators
(I.1A) Diversity of the active population according to socio-professional categories

(I.1B) Rate of unemployment
(I.1D) % of households receiving social benefits
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(I.2A) Number of shops/ 1,000 population

Bristol City Council Lawrence Hill Ward Profile 2002
Number of local jobs
Jobs ratio (number of jobs in the ward/ resident labour force)
% of residents in employment who work outside Bristol
% of local jobs in services
% of part time jobs
% Claiming unemployment benefit
Employment deprivation
Audit Commission Quality of Life Indicators

(QoL1) People of working age in employment
(QoL2) Long term unemployment benefit claimants
(QoL3) Young people in education, training or employment
(QoL4) Change in VAT business registrations
(QoL5) Increase or decrease in the number of local jobs
What information do we have and what is missing?

The data collated for the CAH baseline satisfies all of the HQE2R indicators except I.2A (number
of shops per 1000 residents). The majority of the Audit Commission indicators are also covered.
The CAH business survey may provide further relevant information.
Can we summarise the current state of the neighbourhood from this

information?
The main problem that seems to arise from the data collected is that
there are jobs in the CAH area and its surroundings, but that
unemployment rates are high. This suggests that many local people do
not have access to the opportunities that exist in their neighbourhood.
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WORKSHEET 2.
Sustainable Health and
Wellbeing
Aims Key Projects
• To improve the health of local people • Healthy living centre
• To increase the range of health options • Local drugs and alcohol project
available locally • Quality environment project
• To create a healthier environment
• To promote sustainable health and
wellbeing through education
• To use this process to maximise
employment creation in the area

Improving the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the community is a central aim of CAH,
and there is no need to reiterate its importance here.
The Delivery Plan recognises the link between health and environmental sustainability, although the
case for this link could be made more strongly. The link between respiratory disease and traffic
emissions is not spelt out, for example. The connection between home insulation, health, energy
conservation and emission reductions is also important, as is the potential contribution of tree
planting to the improvement of local air quality.
There should be a clear understanding of the different goals which might be found under the
‘quality environment’ heading. By ‘environmental improvement’, people often mean creating a
safer, cleaner, more attractive environment. While this obviously contributes to the wellbeing of the
human population, this type of initiative does not necessarily improve the local natural environment
or reduce the neighbourhood’s impact on local and global ecosystems.

15. To improve health

HQE2R Indicators
(I.15B) Number of healthcare professionals/ 1,000 population

(I.15C) Number of heart, cardiovascular or breathing diseases and lead poisoning cases/ 1,000
population
WORKSHEET 2.
Sustainable Health and
Bristol City Council Lawrence Hill Ward Profile 2002 Wellbeing
% of households with a smoker
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Exercise levels
Number of hospital admissions for serious falls in elderly
& of respondents who have a health problem
Premature death
Death rate by cause (cancer, circulatory disease, injury or suicide)4
Low birth weight
Teenage pregnancy
% mothers breastfeeding
Access to fresh fruit and vegetables
Organic/local food consumption
Health deprivation and disability
Bristol City Council Quality of Life Indicators

Infant mortality
Number of under 14s starting the school day without having eaten breakfast
Fruit and vegetable consumption by children
Food borne and water borne illnesses
Mental health

(QoL10) Death rate by cause
(QoL11) Infant mortality rates
(QoL12) Conceptions among girls aged under 18

The CAH baseline survey gives a baseline for peoples’ perceptions of their own health, and for
smoking levels. The Lawrence Hill ward-level indicators give key data on mortality rates and
causes of death. They also give survey responses on exercise levels and access to fresh food. These
data satisfy most of the HQE2R and Audit Commission indicators, the main exception being
numbers of healthcare professionals (HQE2R I.15C).

information?
The majority of the Lawrence Hill indicators present a picture of poor health in comparison to the
rest of the city. However, responses to the Quality of Life survey suggest above average levels of
exercise, consumption of organic produce and access to fresh food.
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WORKSHEET 2B.
Local and Global
Environment
Aims Key Projects

The Sustainable Health and Well-being outcome area (see worksheet 2) has a clear vision of the
link between health and environment. Most of its activities to date have rightly focussed on the
health of the local population. Looking at ways in which the neighbourhood can take responsibility
for, and action on, its impact on the local and global environment in a broader sense has not yet
emerged as a priority.
For this reason, and to aid clarity, environmental issues have been pulled out into this separate
worksheet. The issues listed here are those that people generally associate with environmental
sustainability (resource use and conservation, air and water quality, global warming, waste
management, land use, biodiversity). To list them in isolation runs the risk of reinforcing the
tendency to separate the environmental from the human. The challenge facing CAH is twofold:
• To explore how addressing these environmental issues can improve local lives.
• To explore how all CAH projects (including those that don’t have an explicit environmental
goal) can contribute to environmental sustainability.

7. To reduce energy consumption and improve energy management
8. To improve water resource management and quality
9. To avoid land consumption and improve land management
10. To improve the consumption of materials and their management
11. To preserve and develop natural and built heritage
12. To preserve and develop landscape and aesthetic quality
15. To improve environmental quality (cleanliness and hygiene)
18. To reduce noise pollution
19. To minimise waste
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WORKSHEET 2B.
Local and Global
Environment

HQE2R Indicators
(I.7A) % of buildings with a standard of the heating / cooling system and / or the insulation system
above the legal norms (national or European).
(I.7B) % of housing units and public buildings (expressed in housing unit equivalent) using
renewable energy in the neighbourhood.
(I.7C) Emission of greenhouse effect gases from heating of housing units per inhabitant
(I.8A) Consumption of drinking water per inhabitant in the residential sector of the neighbourhood
in m3 per year.
(I.8B) Volume of rainwater used in m3 per year per inhabitant
(I.8C) % of public equipment saving water
(I.8D) % of buildings under the legal water quality
(I.9A) Neighbourhood average Floor Area Ratio (NaFAR) = Overall Floor area in hectares / Total
neighbourhood surface area in hectares
(I.9B) Built surface area in the neighbourhood in hectares / Urbanised surface area in hectares
(I.9C) Surface of brown-fields or polluted sites
(I.9D) Number of inhabitants whose buildings are subject to rules limiting the discharge of
rainwater
(I.9E) Number of targets attained in the urban planning instructions concerning the neighbourhood
(as a percentage of the maximum possible number).
(I.10) Number of buildings built renovated or demolished including an approach which takes into
account recycle materials, environmental labels, certifications, or norms, as well as the lifetime of
materials and equipments and the easiness of maintenance and operation
(I.11) Number of actions for the preservation and the valorisation of the biodiversity
(I.12) % of buildings or facilities constructed with the objective of landscape conservation and
visual comfort in the specifications.
(I.17A) Number of residents or users exposed to local NO2 pollution
(I.17B) % of new buildings with specifications covering indoor air quality
(I.18A) Roads subject to noise pollution
(I.18B) % of building sites with planning permission controlling noise pollution
(I.18C) Number of noise complaints to the council
(I.19A) % of waste separated for recycling
(I.19B) % of buildings sites with planning permission requiring management of site waste
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WORKSHEET 2B.
Local and Global
Environment
Sites of nature conservation
Woodland
Parks > 2 hectares
Average bird species per garden
% gardens/ponds with frogs
NO2 from road traffic
Benzene from road traffic
Contaminated sites
% of respondents who feel dog fouling is a problem
Noise complaints
Background noise

(QoL17) Public concern over noise
(QoL24) Air quality levels
(QoL25) Climate change indicator
(QoL26) Rivers and canals rated as good or fair quality
(QoL27) Energy use per household
(QoL28) Water leakage rates
(QoL29) Recycling rates
(QoL30) Derelict land levels
(QoL35) The area of land designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which is in
‘favourable condition’

Environmental sustainability is a key concern of HQE2R, and this project proposes many indicators
to measure different aspects of it, several of which correspond more or less closely to a number of
the Audit Commission indicators. Data has not to date been collated for many of these. The main
areas where information is missing are:
• The use of energy and other resources, and information on conservation activities
• Contribution of the neighbourhood to climate change
• Analysis of land use in the neighbourhood and analysis of environmental safeguards in
development proposals (Bristol’s planning department should be able to contribute here)
The Lawrence Hill ward profile contains information on open spaces and wildlife. It also gives
measurements for air pollutants and noise levels; the relevance of these to the CAH area should be
checked by finding out where measurements were taken.

information?
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A strong message coming from both the CAH baseline survey and the sustainable neighbourhood
research is that vandalism and litter detract from residents’ enjoyment of and pride in their local
environment. Traffic and the impact of St. Philips Causeway are also seen as having a negative
effect on the neighbourhood.
The Lawrence Hill indicators suggest that local gardens have less wildlife than in other areas of the
city. They also point to problems of air and noise pollution.
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WORKSHEET 3.
Aims Key Projects Tackling Crime
• To reduce the incidence of crime in the • Healthy living centre
NDC area and reduce the fear of crime and • Local drugs and alcohol project
create the conditions necessary for the • Quality environment project
prevention of crime.

- Social and economic
A reduction in crime and the fear of crime is central to improving life in the neighbourhood, and is a
high priority for many residents. The social and economic benefits to a reduction in crime are
clearly spelled out in the Delivery Plan. The link between crime reduction and improvements in
education and employment opportunities is especially important. It would also have a positive
impact on neighbourhood sustainability by encouraging people to stay in the area.
It is easy to see how a reduction in crime might lead to improvements in the sense of a safer and
more visually attractive environment. The connection with environmental sustainability in the sense
of reduced impacts on local and global ecosystems is less clear. It could be argued that the removal
of the fear and consequences of crime would lift a significant burden from the minds and lives of
people in the neighbourhood, and that this would free those with an interest to engage more actively
with environmental action and education.
The goals of tackling crime and working towards environmental sustainability might be brought
together through the activities of the Youth Inclusion Programme, or through the use of community
service orders.

16 To improve safety

HQE2R Indicators
(I.16A) Number of crimes per 1,000 population

Vehicle crime
Domestic burglary
Violent crime
Crime injuries
General disturbance
Drunkenness
Domestic incidents
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Citizens concerned about crime

% of respondents who feel crime has worsened in the last 3 years
Noise and disturbance complaints

(QoL15) Residents level of fear of crime
(QoL16) Levels of crime committed

The information collated on crime in the area is detailed and allows us to respond to the indicators
proposed by both HQE2R and the Audit Commission. The statistics collected by the police are
supplemented by residents’ responses to the baseline survey to questions about fear of crime. The
sustainable neighbourhood research elicited many responses on peoples’ feelings about crime in the
area.

information?
All of the data sources indicate that the neighbourhood has a severe crime problem. Incidences of
crime are approximately 3 times higher than the averages for the rest of the city and for England.
The majority of residents report feeling safe in their homes, but many feel unsafe walking outside
after dark. Close to 50% of over 55s say that they never go out alone after dark.
The responses to the sustainable neighbourhood research make strong connections between crime
and the fact that many young people are under-occupied. The link between crime and drugs is also
felt to be very important.
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WORKSHEET 4.
Raising Educational
Achievement
Aims Key Projects
• To substantially increase educational • Education action team
attainment at all the local schools • Out of school learning team
• To improve levels of qualification and
provide a range of education options for
local people
• To increase parental involvement in
schools

Giving the best educational opportunities to all is a cornerstone of social sustainability, which is
fully recognised in the CAH delivery plan.
Good schools are a key factor in motivating people to move to, or stay in an area. They are thus
pivotal to neighbourhood sustainability. By encouraging people to stay, good schools might aid
neighbourhood sustainability, but they may also lead to higher house prices, ‘gentrification’, and the
displacement of residents. A possible outcome of improved educational attainment is also that
individuals will have more opportunities and may choose to leave the neighbourhood. These points
are discussed more under housing, below.
The contribution of schools is central in raising consciousness of environmental issues. Changes in
peoples’ attitudes occur most profoundly between, rather than within generations, so the
opportunity to influence those of the next generation must not be missed. External inputs might be
used where teachers don’t have the time or ability to adapt the national curriculum to promote
environmental awareness. The Recycling Consortium is one example of a local voluntary sector
organisation which has wide experience of working with schools.
Environmental education offers opportunities beyond local schools, and should be seen as relevant
to the wider community. Sharing experience of re-use and recycling (or ‘make do and mend’) could
stimulate interaction and learning between the generations. Learning gardening skills could be a
healthy and confidence-giving activity for many people, which would have health and
environmental benefits through the consumption of local food.

13 To increase levels of educational achievement and employment qualification
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HQE2R Indicators
(I.13A) % of pupils with academic shortfall on leaving primary school

(I.13B) Truancy
(I.13C) Number of people per room in dwellings

Key stage 2 results
Truancy
Education, skills and training deprivation

(QoL3) Young people in education, training or employment
(QoL9) People with Level 2 qualifications at age 19
(QoL20) Number of childcare places available for under 5s not in early education
(QoL21) Activities and facilities for young people

The data collated here on education is very limited. The CAH delivery plan supplies information
only on school attendance (HQE2R indicator 13B), and this was not supplemented by the baseline
survey. The Bristol City Council ward profile for Lawrence Hill gives Key stage 2 results for
primary schools, which could be used to satisfy the HQE2R indicator 13A.
The Audit Commission indicators require further information on the numbers of young people in
education, and the number of childcare places. As Bristol City is piloting this set, it should be
possible to find data for these indicators.
In response to the sustainable neighbourhood research, few people commented on the quality of
education in the area, the provision of facilities for young people was a major issue, however, which
corresponds to Audit Commission indicator QoL21 (comments on this topic from the research can
be seen in the appendices to worksheets 3, 6 and 7).

information?
The achievements of children in the local primary schools suggest that they are doing well,
particularly in the context of a deprived neighbourhood. More data is required on secondary school
achievements and on access to and take up of further education and training. The neighbourhood is
given a poor score for education, skills and training deprivation, but the implications of this are not
clear.
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WORKSHEET 5.
Housing
Aims Key Projects

• To create safe, secure and properly • Empty property campaign
maintained housing for all NDC residents • Selective blocks demolition
• To reduce the number of people wishing • Repairs and conversions fund
to leave the area due to house size or • Co-housing project for the elderly
condition

- Social sustainability (neighbourhood viability)
One of the main goals of the housing outcome area is to make the neighbourhood a place where
people want to stay. Reducing the turnover of tenants is central to improving the social
sustainability of the neighbourhood. It is hoped that greater stability in the population would
contribute to cohesion and reduce anti social behaviour. Having people stay in the area is vital to
neighbourhood sustainability as it demonstrates (where people choose to stay) commitment to and
investment in the community. CAH and other agencies are working to give people better life
chances; progress in skills, education, health, leisure and creative activities will benefit people
individually, and will benefit the whole neighbourhood if a proportion of those individuals choose
to stay.
The housing outcome area highlights the intimate connection between the physical and the social in
neighbourhood regeneration.
As housing comprises a large proportion of the neighbourhood’s buildings and is central to daily
lives, it is possibly the most important location for action towards environmental sustainability.
Investment in new housing offers an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate CAH’s commitment to
the environment. Using this opportunity to invest in innovative, resource-saving housing would
create a wonderful legacy for the neighbourhood; the political and moral imperative for
environmentally sound building design is growing and this could put Barton Hill ahead of the game.
Such housing would be warm, cheap to run and made from healthy materials, so tenants would
enjoy cash savings and benefits to their health.
The repairs and conversions fund is already working to improve the energy efficiency of existing
homes. This programme may offer further scope for the use of environmentally sound materials, or
demonstrating retro-fitting for renewable energy sources.

3. To maintain and reinforce the diversity of the housing supply
14. To improve housing supply
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HQE2R Indicators
(I.3A) % of social housing

(I.3B) % of owner-occupiers
(I.14A) % of unoccupied principal residences
(I.14B) Turnover rate
(I.15A) Number of substandard housing units

Average house price
% unfit homes (private sector)
Empty home brought back into use
% change in housing stock since 1991
Homeless persons
New affordable housing completed 1991-2001
% satisfied with housing availability and cost
Demand for re-housing (council tenants)
Owner occupied
City Council stock
Housing Association owned
Privately rented
Houses in multiple occupation
Housing deprivation

(QoL13) Households able to purchase local average first time buyers property
(QoL14) Unfit homes

The baseline survey provides a wealth of information on peoples’ opinions about housing in the
neighbourhood, and combined with the other baseline data, this responds to most of the HQE2R
indicators. The housing condition survey will be a valuable addition, when its results are available.
The Lawrence Hill ward profile covers many aspects of housing, although it does not apply wholly
to the CAH area.
The Audit Commission indicator QoL13 relates to the affordability of house prices. The data
presented here does not provide a response to this important indicator.

information?
Levels of satisfaction with housing are fairly high according to the baseline survey. Respondents to
the sustainable neighbourhood research raised several issues relating to the high rise blocks, most of
which were connected to their social, as opposed to physical, structure. More information is needed
on the environmental impact of housing and on peoples’ access to the private market.
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WORKSHEET 6.
Community Services
Aims Key Projects

• To intervene to improve the delivery of • Support for neighbourhood community
public services in the area action
• To establish neighbourhood control over • Direct support: Older people, Youth
the delivery of services in the NDC area facilities, Early years and childcare
• To increase the participation of local • Support and advice: NDC
residents in the managing of services in communications, Advice services, Holiday
their area activities, Neighbourhood endowment
grants fund, Access to financial services

- Social sustainability (neighbourhood viability)
This worksheet focuses on neighbourhood services and community action.
CAH has a clear vision to enable a shift in responsibility and power from external agencies to local
residents. It is recognised that progress in this direction is prerequisite to success across the CAH
programme. Participation and self-determination are identified as key elements of sustainable
development in the UN’s Agenda 21; in the NDC context, they are central to neighbourhood
sustainability.
Raising the quality of local services brings many opportunities for environmental improvement. The
success of Project Pathfinder is testament to this. Other examples might include reviewing energy
efficiency in social housing, or managing open spaces for wildlife. The vision of CAH is for service
improvements to go hand in hand with local control; progress towards environmental sustainability
would thus need to be adopted as a goal of those local people taking responsibility for services.
Better quality and quantity in local services would lead to more of peoples’ needs being met in the
neighbourhood. This would be likely to make people feel more positive about it as a place to live,
strengthening the social aspects of sustainability. The consequent reduction in the need to travel
would also contribute to environmental sustainability. These effects might be strengthened if the
meeting of local needs took account, where possible, of local production and labour. We might
describe a sustainable neighbourhood as one that sustains the people who live in it.
UWE 189

2. To maintain or reinforce the diversity of neighbourhood functions
4. To favour the accessibility of residents to services and facilities by means of an attractive and
affordable transport system (including services in other parts of the city)
5. To improve the integration of the neighbourhood in the city
20. To reinforce social cohesion
21. To improve networks of solidarity

HQE2R Indicators
(I.2B) Number of public facilities and services

(I.4) % of residents living less than 300m from a public service or facility, or a public transport stop
that directly accesses a public service
(I.5A) Number of facilities of city-wide importance per 1,000 population
(I.5B) Number of days per year when events and activities take place
(I.20A) Number of residents participating in sustainable development activities
(I.20B) Voter turn-out
(I.21A) Number of residents participating in community activities
(I.21B) Number of building projects which take into account local views
(I.21C) Number of actions of North/ South solidarity

Voter turnout (general and council elections)
Geographical access to services

(QoL22) Ease of access to key local services
(QoL23) Community involvement indicators (not yet defined)

The baseline survey gives useful information on access to services. It is generally presented in terms
of resident satisfaction, whereas the HQE2R indicators require numbers of facilities and services
etc. The survey also provides a response to HQE2R indicator I.21A, about the number of people
participating in community activity. HQE2R indicators 21B and 21C are quite specific
(involvement in building projects and actions for North-South solidarity) and the survey does not
supply a response to them. The baseline survey is likely to provide data that is relevant to the Audit
Commission indicators for this topic.
The Lawrence Hill ward indicators give data on voter turnout. The sustainable neighbourhood
research elicited many responses on community involvement and local services.

information?
The baseline survey and the sustainable neighbourhood research raise a number of issues about
participation in community activities. Only 11% of survey respondents said that they were involved
UWE 190
in community activity, but discussions held during the sustainable neighbourhood research showed
that some people felt local organisations were unresponsive. Others felt that lack of time prevented
them from getting involved, and that they therefore should not criticise. There was generally a
recognition that opportunities for involvement existed.
The baseline survey shows that people feel many services are easily accessible, and this is reflected
in the Lawrence Hill ward indicators, by the ‘geographic access to services index’. The main
exceptions, according to the survey, are hospitals, leisure facilities and supermarkets. A wide range
of opinions on services were expressed in the sustainable neighbourhood research. Comments
included how people valued the Settlement and Project Pathfinder. Criticisms included the lack of
youth facilities, problems with public transport and the use of the Barton Hill shops by public
agencies.
Voter turnout in the ward is generally low, although many more people voted in the CAH
Management Board elections.
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WORKSHEET 6b.
Neighbourhood
satisfaction
Aims Key Projects

Neighbourhood Satisfaction is an area for monitoring and evaluation rather than specific theme for
action. Several elements of the CAH baseline survey relate to perceptions of the neighbourhood, as
do many of the issues raised in the sustainable neighbourhood research work. It is also used as a
measure in the Audit Commission quality of life indicators. It has been included here (as a subset of
the Community Services worksheet) because many of peoples’ feelings about the neighbourhood
are related to services and to community involvement.

HQE2R Indicators

(QoL18) Public satisfaction with the neighbourhood as a place to live
(QoL19) Public perception of whether the neighbourhood is getting better or worse

The baseline survey supplies a wealth of data to satisfy these two Audit Commission indicators,
which is supplemented by responses to the sustainable neighbourhood research. At present, we do
not have a comparative data on how people feel about their neighbourhoods in the rest of the city,
this could probably be supplied from the Bristol Quality of Life survey.

information?
Over 60% of residents say they are very or fairly satisfied with the neighbourhood. This seems
fairly positive, but is contrasted with the fact that 50% say they think the area has got worse over
the last 2 years. It is also worth noting that, overall, older people seem to have more positive
UWE 192
feelings about the neighbourhood than younger people. When asked what they like about the area,
closeness to a range of services scores highly, along with ‘good neighbours’, suggesting that many
people feel a sense of identification with the local community. The sustainable neighbourhood
research revealed a very mixed picture. Several people said they liked the area and felt it had a good
community spirit, while others disliked it strongly and wanted to leave.
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WORKSHEET 7.
Arts, Sports and Leisure
Aims Key Projects

• To improve fitness, health and well-being • Arts motivation and participation
in the area • Sports motivation and participation
• To increase the range of arts, sports and • Sports spaces
leisure options available locally

Arts and leisure are recognised in the Delivery Plan as an important element in building community
capacity and creating opportunities that contribute to peoples’ health and well-being. They are thus
a component of social sustainability. They may also lead to education, training and economic
opportunities. Engagement in cultural and sporting activities will also project a positive image to
surrounding areas, attracting people to the neighbourhood and asserting its importance as part of the
city (Easton Festival and St Paul’s Carnival are good examples of how this works).
As a route to capacity building, the arts and sports can help people to respond to the challenges
facing them, and environmental improvement is one of these. The arts also have a vital role in
interpreting, educating and encouraging people to identify with their surroundings.

4. To favour the accessibility of residents to services and facilities (including those in other parts of
the city)
5. To improve the integration of the neighbourhood in the city

HQE2R Indicators
that directly accesses a public service (including sports and cultural facilities)
(I.5A) Number of facilities of city-wide importance per 1,000 population (including sports and
cultural facilities)
(I.5B) Number of days per year when event and activities take place

% of respondents who take regular exercise
UWE 194
% of respondents who take part in active sport at least once a week

(QoL21) Activities and facilities for young people

The baseline survey and sustainable neighbourhood research give some good information on
peoples’ feelings about local facilities. This covers the same topic area as the HQE2R and Audit
Commission indicators, although the indicators focus on the presence of facilities, whereas the
baseline survey asks peoples’ opinions about them. The baseline survey asked about ‘sports and
leisure’ facilities, it is not clear if this includes cultural facilities such as theatres and cinemas etc.

information?
A very strong message coming from the sustainable neighbourhood research was that there is a lack
of facilities for young people in the area. Many people saw this issue as linked to the problems of
crime and anti-social behaviour. Suggestions for facilities included better parks, a skate/bmx park
and a swimming pool. No respondents to the research said they thought the area had good sports,
leisure or youth facilities. A similar picture emerges from the baseline survey results with a general
feeling that there is a lack of facilities in the area. The lack of sports facilities may have
implications for residents’ health.
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WORKSHEET 8.
Tackling Racism
Aims Key Projects

• To reduce the number of racist incidents • Black development Project
• To improve access to services for black • Support for victims of racial harassment
people • Refugee Support Scheme
• To establish support services for black
people new to the area

Equity and inclusion have been seen as key principals of sustainability since the Rio earth summit.
These principals touch on many aspects of sustainability, from fairness in the distribution of
resources, to participation in decision-making. A community that discriminates against any of its
members on grounds of race cannot therefore be a sustainable one. Furthermore, to take action
towards sustainability and self-determination, a community must use all of its resources and people
of every race are the most important of these.

16. To improve safety
20. To reinforce social cohesion
21. To improve networks of solidarity

HQE2R Indicators
(I.16A) Number of crimes in the neighbourhood

(I.21A) Number of residents participating in community activities
(I.21C) Number of actions of North/ South solidarity

Racial Harassment

(QoL15) Residents fear of crime
(QoL16) Crimes committed
UWE 196

Neither the HQE2R nor the Audit Commission indicator sets refer specifically to racism. Indicators
on crime, fear of crime and community cohesion are, however, highly relevant if they can be broken
down to show the incidence of racial incidents, or the inclusiveness of life in the neighbourhood. At
present we do not have data showing the levels of fear of racial harassment. Neither do we have
information on the numbers of black people and other minority ethnic groups participating in
community activity.
The baseline survey includes a question on local perceptions of racial harassment, and the Lawrence
Hill ward indicators show the incidence of racial harassment.
HQE2R indicator I.21C relates to the number of actions promoting north-south solidarity. This
indicator does not relate directly to racism against local residents, but activity of this type may
encourage understanding between different groups. At present we do not have information to satisfy
this indicator.

information?
The information we currently have on racism is insufficient to give a picture of relations between
different ethnic groups. The Lawrence Hill ward indicators show that there is a high incidence of
racial harassment in the area, but much more information would be required to form the basis of
action to tackle this problem.
UWE 197
WORKSHEET 9.
Tackling Poverty
Aims Key Projects

The CAH Delivery Plan does not include specific reference to the alleviation of poverty, or the
reduction of welfare dependence. The appropriateness of including this worksheet should therefore
be discussed. We recognise that possible characteristics of a sustainable neighbourhood could be:
where financial poverty does not limit peoples’ life chances or compromise their well-being; where
financial poverty is not stigmatised; where human, cultural and natural resources are valued in
balance with financial ones.
As with neighbourhood satisfaction (worksheet 6b), poverty is perhaps an area for monitoring,
rather than specific action; the net effect of success across the CAH outcome areas would be to
reduce poverty. The nationally calculated indices of deprivation are used by Bristol City Council to
assess poverty, and are also proposed for use by the Audit Commission quality of life indicators.

HQE2R Indicators

Index of multiple deprivation
Income deprivation
Child poverty index

(QoL6) Population living in 10% most deprived wards
(QoL7) People of working age who are claiming key benefits
(QoL8) Children living in low income households

The information to respond to each of the Audit Commission indicators is supplied by the various
indices of deprivation, which are presented in the Lawrence Hill ward indicators. It is
not possible to break these indices down any further than the ward level, therefore we cannot use
them to get and exact fit with the CAH area boundaries. As part of the national NDV evaluation
project, special data sets are being compiled especially for the NDC areas, which will give us an
accurate picture of conditions in the CAH area. This data should be available in the spring of 2003.
UWE 198

information?
As explained above, it is difficult to get an accurate picture of the CAH area at present, although
this will change in the coming months. The current data for the Lawrence Hill ward shows that that
area suffers sever deprivation for income deprivation, child poverty and the index of multiple
deprivation.
UWE 199
WORKSHEET 10.
Transport
Aims Key Projects

Transport is one of the keys to linking people to cultural, educational and employment
opportunities which lie outside the neighbourhood. While it is a goal of sustainability to provide a
wide range of services and opportunities in the neighbourhood, there will obviously be many for
which this is not practical or desirable. Efficient transport is also vital to quality of life in the
neighbourhood, for getting to school, carrying shopping, etc. Sustainable transport options can
contribute to health by encouraging walking and cycling, and by cutting air pollution. Reducing car
dependency might also encourage more people onto the streets and pavements, in turn reducing
feelings of insecurity and isolation. In turn, better security and lighting will encourage more people
onto the streets, especially after dark.
Transport is a key element of environmental sustainability, as it consumes large amounts of energy
and land, produces pollution and can degrade the quality of local environments and create physical
barriers between communities. There are thus numerous options for aiding neighbourhood
sustainability through action around transport. These might include: encouraging the switch to
public transport by providing better bus and rail services; improving pedestrian and cycling
provision; cycling education in schools; planning streets to give more space and freedom to people
(as in the Dings’ home zone); running public vehicles on environment friendly fuels; providing
alternative fuels and educating people about them; planning new developments with an emphasis on
accessibility for people instead of cars; planning new developments to minimise the need for travel.

4. To favour the accessibility of residents to services and facilities by means of an attractive and
affordable transport system (including services in other parts of the city)
6. To reduce the need for travel (where appropriate) and develop environmentally sound transport
infrastructure

HQE2R Indicators
that directly accesses a public service
UWE 200
(I.5A) Number of facilities of city-wide importance per 1,000 population

(I.6A) Length of public transport routes, footpaths and cycleways in metre per resident
(I.6B) Length of pavements in poor repair

Car ownership
Car dependency
% of children walking to school
% travel to work by car

(QoL31) Highways of a high or acceptable level of cleanliness
(QoL32) Average traffic flows
(QoL33) Public’s use of different traffic modes
(QoL34) Children travelling to and from school by different modes

The HQE2R indicators deal mainly with physical features of the neighbourhood, whereas the data
we have from the baseline survey and the Lawrence Hill ward indicators deals with peoples’ habits.
Responding to the HQE2R transport indicators would therefore require some further investigation.
In response to the Audit Commission indicators, the current data would allow use to respond to no.s
33 and 34 (to a limited degree), but not to 31 and 32.

information?
The Lawrence Hill data shows that the ward as a whole has low car dependency and a high
percentage of children walking to school compared to other parts of the city. This is positive in
terms of sustainable transport. It is probable, however, that low car use in the ward is strongly
linked to poverty, rather than being a positive choice. Our assessment of this information should
therefore be closely linked to the accessibility of services, and the quality of public transport.
As discussed in worksheet 6, accessibility to services is generally seen as quite good in responses to

the baseline survey.
The data presented here does not enable us to give an assessment of the quality and convenience of
public transport links, or of pedestrian and cycling facilities.
UWE 201
APPENDIX 1: Synthetic presentation

of the HQE²R project
Cenergia – UWE - CSTB 202

Today cities are being reconstructed, buildings are being rehabilitated, and neighbourhoods revitalised. To
assure sustainability, this rehabilitation must, besides technical solutions, take social trends, changes in
behaviour, environment and economic development into account. In the HQE2R project 14 neighbourhoods
and 10 research institutes in 7 European countries are co-operating to provide methods and tools for use by
local municipalities and their partners: government agencies, planners, landlords, local citizens and other
users in sustainable urban renewal projects.
The project is partly financed by the European Commission Programme for Energy, Environment and
Sustainable Development (City of Tomorrow) and is lead by CSTB.
The objective of the project is to develop a new methodology together with the necessary tools to
promote sustainable development and the quality of life at the crucial and challenging level of urban
neighbourhoods
As far as developed until now, the HQE2R methodological framework for sustainable neighbourhood
analysis and development is structured into 4 phases (an inventory, an analysis - identifying priorities,
definition, discussion and assessment of scenarios and finally setting up an action plan for the
neighbourhood). It is furthermore based on a set of 21 sustainable development targets under 5 main
objectives and backed up by a set of indisputable indicators and 3 new assessment tools.
In detail the main results of the work done until now are:
• the choice of 6 sustainable development principles for the city scale,

• the definition of 5 main global sustainable development (SD) objectives with 21 targets at the
neighbourhood and buildings scales, and the definition of sustainability for the neighbourhood
scale;
• a shared SD diagnosis method (with an integrated analytical grid for the previous inventory)
adapted to the neighbourhood scale;
• SD indicators: a state of the art analysis at the different scales (national, regional, the city scale, the
neighbourhood and the building) in many European countries which allowed the definition of:
- state indicators for the buildings and neighbourhood diagnosis,

- a system of Indisputable SD Indicators (ISDIS) to assess the sustainability of the
neighbourhood,
- monitoring indicators for the different projects upon the neighbourhood (and for the city),
- a model of indicators (INDI model) as a decision aid tool for assessing the different
scenarios before choosing the final action plan for the neighbourhood;
• the state of the art analysis according to laws and an analysis of the practices about residents and
users participation allowing to elaborate recommendations for improving participation;
• an analysis of the different laws and practices about urban planning documents and their impacts
upon the neighbourhoods with recommendations for taking into account SD in urban planning
documents (for each partner country);
• development of pilot-versions for 3 models as decision aid tools for choosing the best Action
plan for a neighbourhood: the INDI model with SD indicators, the ENVI model which assess the
environmental impacts of the different scenarios and the ASCOT model about global costs;
• a drafting of SD briefing documents for choosing the good targets for building renovation,
• a drafting of SD briefing documents towards procedures and strategic decisions before the
elaboration of the action plan for neighbourhoods.

APPENDIX 2: Updated list of the 5 objectives and

targets for sustainable neighbourhoods and buildings

THE 5 OBJECTIVES AND 21 TARGETS

FOR SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOODS
AND BUILDINGS
TO PRESERVE AND ENHANCE HERITAGE AND CONSERVE RESOURCES

1 - To reduce energy consumption and improve energy management
2 - To improve water resource management and quality
3 - To avoid land consumption and improve land management
4 - To reduce the consumption of materials and improve their management
5 - To preserve and enhance the built and natural heritage
TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT

6 - To preserve and enhance the landscape and visual comfort
7 - To improve housing quality
8 - To improve cleanliness, hygiene and health
9 - To improve safety and risk management
10 - To improve air quality
11 - To reduce noise pollution
12 - To minimise waste
TO ENSURE DIVERSITY
13 - To ensure the diversity of the population
14 - To ensure the diversity of functions
15 - To ensure the diversity of housing supply
TO IMPROVE INTEGRATION
16 - To increase the levels of education and job qualification
17 - To improve access for all residents to all the services and facilities of the city
by means of easy and non expensive transportation mode
18 - To improve the integration of the neighbourhood in the city by creating living
and meeting places for all the inhabitants of the city
19 - To avoid unwanted mobility and to improve the environmentally sound mobility
infrastructure
TO REINFORCE SOCIAL LIFE

20 - To reinforce local governance
21 - To improve social networks and social capital
Source: CSTB, La Calade with contribution of the European partners of the HQE²R project (http://hqe2r.cstb.fr)

HQE2R Diagnostics &amp; Priorités

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HQE2R Diagnostics &amp; Priorités

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Sustainable renovation of buildings

Setting priorities for

Ove MORCK , CENERGIA

HQE2R is a project co-financed by the European Commission within the

Setting priorities for sustainable

Ove MORCK CENERGIA

Under major contribution for the national parts by:

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 2

Memorandum: the HQE2R approach

The objectives of the HQE²R project

“Sustainable Renovation of Buildings for Sustainable Neighbourhoods” or HQE²R is a project

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 3

sustainable development. It is a question of providing operational tools for a concrete

The HQE2R approach and the expected project results

THE HQE²R APPROACH TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE

PHASE 1 : DECISION PHASE 2 : ANALYSIS

3. Inventory based on the

Source: HQE²R Project (http://hqe2r.cstb.fr) SD: Sustainable Development

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 4

Definition of 6 SD Choice of 5 SD Development of a shared SD

Elaboration of Recommendations to improve

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 5

2. THE HQE²R METHODOLOGY 7

3. THE HQE²R NEIGHBOURHOODS

4. SYNTHESIS OF SD PRIORITIES FOR THE 14 NEIGHBOURHOODS IN

5. SYNTHESIS OF ISSUES RAISED IN RELATION TO COMPLETING THE

6. SYNTHESIS OF THE SHARED SD DIAGNOSES FOR SETTING PRIORITIES

APPENDIX 1: SYNTHETIC PRESENTATION OF THE HQE²R PROJECT 202

APPENDIX 2: UPDATED LIST OF THE 5 OBJECTIVES AND 21 TARGETS FOR

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 6

2. The HQE²R methodology

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 7

Setting priorities for sustainable development in 14 European neighbourhoods (Deliverable 8)

PHASE 1 : DECISION PHASE 2 : ANALYSIS

3. Inventory based on the

Source: HQE²R Project (http://hqe2r.cstb.fr) SD: Sustainable Development

2.1 From the Inventory to the Diagnosis5

2.2 From the Diagnosis to the stakes and to local SD objectives

The definition of what is essential in the neighbourhood is achieved by establishing a diagnosis.

Table 1: First list of the 5 objectives and 21 targets (obsolete to date6)

B - To improve the Integration

C - To preserve and valorise Heritage

D – To improve Quality of life

E – To reinforce Social link

2.3 Tools to support decision for the action plan

3. The 14 HQE²R neighbourhoods in relation to the neighbourhood

b) Inner City – historical centre

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 11

e) Special areas to be rebuilt

3.2 The 14 neighbourhoods

Inner city (ic):

Inter city – historical centre (ich):

Former suburb (fs):

Special areas to be rebuilt (sar):

3.3 Prioritised targets

An overview of this prioritisation is presented in table 2 below.

Cenergia – UWE – CSTB 12

Table 2: Overview of prioritisation of targets in the 14 HQE²R neighbourhoods7

B - To improve the Integration

C - To preserve and valorise Heritage

D – To improve Quality of life

E – To reinforce Social link

HQE2R Diagnostics & Priorités

HQE2R Diagnostics & Priorités