22@Barcelona: an urban project revitalising public spaces

The Poble Nou (New Village) district was constructed in the 19th century to house workers from the textile industry, which was particularly active in this area at the time. It is located to the east of Eixample and is built on Cerdà's grid pattern. When industry moved out, the district lost its population and factories gradually closed down,... en savoir plus

Co-creating the digital city

Some 75 percent of French people consider that digital sciences have made useful contributions to the transportation sector; however, one in three do not consider that digital technology is useful for the environment, agriculture or art. Those are the findings of a barometric survey presented by the Institut National de Recherche en... en savoir plus

The reversible city ? (only available in french)

Study on “The reversible city?” by students in the regional and urban planning graduate program at ENPC (École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées) (national school for bridge and road construction) in partnership with The City Factory. en savoir plus

How real-time data analysis can help to make urban infrastructure more effective ?


By Carlo RATTI

Carlo Ratti, Director of the SENSEable City Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)presented, during La Fabrique de la Cité seminar about new technologies and mobility (Nice, november 2011, experiments currently under way in a number of large cities, notably, Venice, Copenhagen, and Singapore. en savoir plus

Toward strategies designed to enhance the drawing power of intermediate metropolises

How can quality of life be enhanced in “intermediate metropolises,” which may be defined as medium-sized cities whose scope is primarily regional? This was one of the key questions raised by the International Urban Development Association (INTA) at its annual congress, which was held in Lyon and Grenoble from November 6 to 10. en savoir plus

Spotlight on a liege neighbourhood

It was in Sclessin, a disadvantaged industrial area in Liège, that the Social Light Movement (SLM) organized its first Social Light Workshop to promote one of its founding concepts, that of “social lighting”: beyond its purely functional aspect, light has a role to play in social cohesion and the integration of marginalized neighbourhoods into... en savoir plus

Which governance for public spaces in the city of the future ?

The seminar organized by La Fabrique de la Cité in May 2011, in Barcelona, made it possible to progress on the issue of public spaces in the city of the future.
 A study, titled "Governance of public spaces - International benchmarks",  was led under the scientific supervision of Marcus Zepf, an engineer-architect and a professor who runs... en savoir plus

Overview of the seminar "What is the place for public spaces in the city of the future?"

By The City Factory

The overview of The City Factory seminar presents the participants’ various concerns and presents the principal challenges point by point. en savoir plus

Lighting: a major urban issue

Several groups that support the importance of lighting in urban development have sprung up throughout Europe. Their focus is people and their experience as dwellers of urban environments. Lighting plays a functional role in cities, but its social dimension is just as important. There are many ways to view lighting and how it should be deployed... en savoir plus

"The idea of population mingling is very strong"

Denis Pingaud, Executive Vice-President of OpinionWay, presents the results of an opinion poll of 4,000 Europeans living in Paris, London, Barcelona, and Hamburg on their vision and understanding of the notion of public space. en savoir plus