Build on the villages / Consolidate housing

Published on 17 January 2017 - Updated 22 February 2017

The growing awareness of the fact that farmland is being whittled away and a societal demand for the conservation of natural spaces have highlighted a problem: the urban sprawl which has particularly developed since the 1980s in France. After the SRU (solidarity and urban renewal) Act, the Grenelle I and II Acts (focusing on the environment) and ALUR (access to housing and urban renovation) Act are lending support to the decision-makers, by strengthening the obligations of the SCoT and PLU (and now PLUI) town planning schemes.

The research carried out on this subject provides answers to the question "How?" and counter-arguments for some accepted ideas about "urban consolidation", a synonym for social "declassification" or poor quality of life.