Our Works

The city is alive
6, 7 and 8 April 2010 in Hamburg

The population of cities is constantly evolving. Changes in the sociology of city-dwellers is bringing about radical transformations (labor market, housing, etc.) and creating new needs (services, infrastructure etc.). This is particularly true in Europe, with the ageing of the population in rural areas. In addition, trends in growth or decline are bringing about in-depth changes in urban areas.

For instance, some cities like Hamburg are having to deal with the arrival of new populations, bringing issues of identity and integration. Conversely, the industrial cities of the United States are affected by a steady decline in growth which is transforming certain neighborhoods into derelict areas.

The capacity of cities to absorb these demographic shocks in terms of services and infrastructure and, transcending these questions, issues of collective identity: here are the new subjects of the City Factory.

Documentation téléchargeable :
  • Actes (PDF File 0,6 Mb - Dial-up : 1 min 35 s / Broadband : 3 s)

Sustainable cities - from vision to action
1, 2 and 3 April 2009 in Copenhagen

Energy and environmental issues, demographic growth and changing social relationships are overturning preconceived ideas about urban forms. We need to rethink the organisation and construction of our cities.
Reflection over the last fifteen years or so has intensified and numerous real-life experiments have been carried out. This has led to the construction of the first ecobuildings, (BBC, passiv haus, etc.)and some eco-islands and eco-districts such as Vesterbro in Copenhagen, Bed ZED in London and Vauban in Freiburg have been built.

These contributions, despite their innovative qualities, are not large enough to meet the challenge. New constructions per year only represent 1% of total real estate. Efforts must therefore be made in the field of reclamation. In addition, the field for reflection should be broadened, to cover from construction through to operation, founded on issues of biodiversity and the organisation of living and production space.

A number of recurring questions then arise – what lessons to be learned from the history of urban planning and its recent applications? What characteristics should we plan for tomorrow's city? What responses can we already bring to face up to the challenges of global warming?

In order to provide useful fuel for the debate, the City Factory is organising the second edition of its seminar from 1 to 3 April 2009 around the theme "While waiting for sustainable urban planning to emerge, how do we convert our cities into ecological communities?".

Round tables:

Documentation téléchargeable :

The Région Ile-de-France' economical challenges
17 octobre 2008, in Paris

The future of the capital region, central to our discussions, is currently focusing all attention and has inspired numerous contributions. However, the economic aspects of this issue are rarely tackled. What transport infrastructure needs to be built? What development options should be chosen? At what cost? How can these amenities be financed? What will be the impact of the different scenarios chosen on completion of the competition launched by Nicolas Sarkozy on 4 June this year? These are the issues around which the City Factory would like to structure the debate and make an original contribution.

By comparing the points of view of the people involved in developing the Paris Region (company heads, academics, architects, urban planners, senior officials and elected representatives, etc.) with VINCI's experience, we hope that this morning session will result in concrete and useful exchanges that will enrich the debate.

Round tables:

Mobility in the city: let's change!
2, 3 and 4 April 2008 in London

Nowadays, at a time when the city concentrates all the major challenges of the twenty-first century — mobility, sustainable development, urbanism, employment, diversity, etc. - the VINCI Group wants to contribute concretely to the reflection about tomorrow’s city.
How can a sustainable city be built? How can the city be shared more satisfactorily?
These are the daily challenges the VINCI Group faces. These are the questions it would like to see hold centre stage in public debates.
This is why VINCI is creating the City Factory, a forum aimed at generating innovative ideas about the sustainable city, by organising a debate between the viewpoints of players who think and get the city to change (heads of companies, specialists, academics, high-ranked civil servants, elected officials and representatives of civil society, etc.).

Round tables:

Documentation téléchargeable :