Context 162 - November 2019

C O N T E X T 1 6 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 17 New towns FRÉDÉRIC THEULÉ, translated by CALLUM WALKER The complex heritage of French new towns In the past 20 years significant research and assessment work has been carried out on France’s new towns programme. Despite this, the towns’ heritage continues to be largely unknown. French new towns were established under the 1965 Schéma directeur d’aménagement et d’urbanisme de la région parisienne (Development and Town Planning Master Plan for the Paris Region, SDAURP), and reached their maturity at the turn of the 1990s and 2000s. What can be done about their heritage? That issue has been raised in relation to all five new towns in the Ile-de-France region (Cergy-Pontoise, Evry, Marne-la-Vallée, Melun-Sénart and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines) for the past 15 or so years at least. Some of them, including Saint-Quentin-en- Yvelines, responded in the early 2000s by setting up a designation intended to make its recent history better known to inhabitants and visitors. Others seem to have opted for a policy of urban renewal and economic development, which neglects questions relating to memory and his- tory. In both cases, irrespective of the option chosen by the local elected officials, France can take pride in having carried out extensive analytical work in this area. The PHEVN programme Between 1999 and 2005, teachers, research- ers, experts, witnesses and stakeholders with an interest in the history of new towns in France contributed to the Programme d’histoire et d’évaluation des villes nouvelles (New Towns History and Assessment Programme, PHEVN). Driven by the state, this vast programme of study¹ prompted the community of historians, led by Loïc Vadelorge, to study ‘new urban centres’, the term used to describe new towns under the SDAURP master plan. Broaching The central district of Saint-Quentin-en- Yvelines combines housing with an outdoor shopping centre (Photo: Daniel Huchon, SQY City Museum) The master plan of the Paris region. In 1965 five new cities were created around Paris to relieve the capital from population pressure (Image: SQY City Museum) References ¹ Seven colloquia and around 20 study days based around four thematic workshops were held as part of the PHEVN programme. One of these, entitled ‘Stakeholders, ideas, methods, resources and choices’, focused on history.