Draw me a carbon-neutral neighbourhood

By 2050, 75% of the world’s population will live in cities

Reflecting European targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% from the 1990 level, EDF, together with other stakeholders, is supporting the energy transition of cities and regions. The Group therefore decided to tackle a new approach to the city and energy in “Reinventing the City,” the seventh Low-Carbon Architecture competition, this time organised in partnership with Lille 3000.

Check back in 2050

This year, the competition focused on understanding the changes cities will need to undergo and defining the energy landscape for 2050. The pitch is to rethink a section of an entire city in the Vauban-Esquermes neighbourhood of Lille, France, while taking two key factors into account: climate change at +2°C and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Four teams of urban and landscape architects, designers, visual artists and engineering firms were selected.

Call for ideas

This year’s competition, which carries the COP21 label, differs radically from the previous versions, as it will not lead to any contract or implementation. It concerns an urban, architectural, energy and design study of a Lille neighbourhood. The aim is to achieve carbon neutrality at the neighbourhood level. In 2014, the competition addressed “new forms of housing.” The winning project was a programme for the construction of 13 townhouses on four blocks of land, designed with the worker and river transport heritage of the Paris region’s Gennevilliers sector in mind.