Author(s)

LOÏC VILAIN, DAVID LAPLUME, ISABELLE DE SMET, CEDRIC RIVIERE

Abstract

Today, the negative impacts of urban sprawl for the environment are known, and Wallonia, which is a region of Belgium, are particularly involved in this phenomenon, which could be symbolized simply by the build-up of detached houses developed around cities and along roads between agglomerations. Faced with this occurrence, which is often the result of high road density, the European Environment Agency published a report in 2016 which explains many ways to develop new urban planning for a apment in Europe, based for example on a densification of existing cities and built-up areas. It is difficult for town planners to define the exact limits of urbanization today. So this study will target particularities of the Walloon territory and will be interested in the so-called in-between territory and agglomerations which are formed (especially in the rurality). Faced with an uncontrolled consumption of land resources, the objective of the search is to determine to what extent and according to which methodology a densification of village cores can be carried out. By working on the notion of compactness, this study will verify the ability to act on the consumption of space, materials, and energy to efficiently develop regional centralities, in relation to the proposals of the EEA. Also, to densify these villages, the focus will be into the importance of a human scale and quality of living environment. We will take a look at the development of garden cities, the relationship between man and nature and the community feeling that M. Howard wanted to develop in its concept. The research perspectives that will be proposed are committed to respecting the cultural and heritage identity of village cores intended to be densified.

Keywords

urban sprawl, densification, compactness, centrality, garden city