Ville diffuse et système du vert / Edge cities and green spaces

Abstract

Abstract : Edge cities and green spaces. With the emergence of what has been coined the « edge-city », urban green spaces are no longer located out of town, but instead are found in wedges created by the juxtaposition of various structures and shapes of the urban fabric within this area. Whereas in the past it was believed that these green areas were self-sufficient and that their renewal was related to spontaneous biological phenomena, the rise of the edge-city has clearly highlighted the need for maintenance. This new paradigm has thus led to new ways of thinking about relationships between cities and nature in the wider sense. Most importantly, it highlights the need to come to terms with the modernist conception of architecture and urban planning and to move towards methods of management which are based on « systems » or « networks » of green spaces within a city — a concept that was used as early as the nineteenth century.