Habitats Cities Territories : Architecture as a solution

Why a plea?

The making of the city shapes our life in society for decades to come: when we build, demolish or rehabilitate, we affect our daily environment. Taking care of the living environment of the French is therefore, in a way, spatializing our democracy.

Who today aspires to spend half their salary, or even more, to live in a place that is too small, poorly served and far from their work? Housing, transport and work must be linked. Furthermore, today’s ecological challenges and the global economic situation oblige us to “take care” of our territory: the cost and scarcity of resources, heat waves, meteorological hazards, and the like… the IPCC report shows us how vulnerable our territory is. We must work to avoid major crises and shattered lives. We cannot declare a state of natural disaster indefinitely.

The urgency no longer needs to be demonstrated. Together, we must act!
The good news is that solutions already exist and we are innovating every day!
Successful experiments and good practices can be found everywhere in the country, carried out by citizens, elected officials and architects. It is urgent to spread and expand them. It is urgent to listen to the inhabitants and to make them actors of their living environment – and proud to be so.

We need public investment and a clear political vision:

• Strengthen the territories to allow for a more balanced development.
• Move from a housing policy to a habitat policy.
• Repair the city by giving priority to rehabilitation.
• Change our practices in the face of climate change.
• Decarbonize construction by developing new channels for materials.

Architectural creation provides indispensable solutions for better living together and for the success of our country’s ecological and social transition. Let’s seize this opportunity! Its inter-ministerial nature places architecture at the heart of public policies. It is about investing in the future. It is about changing the current economic model which no longer allows us to guarantee a quality of life for our fellow citizens. Architects are present to act in all territories.

Elected officials, citizens, construction actors, let us collectively put the public interest back at the heart of the making of the city.

Let’s carry this vision of the future together!

IN THE FACE OF THE EMERGENCY