Quartiers durables, participation des habitants et action socioculturelle : l’implication participative de centres sociaux dans les opérations d’écoquartiers français

Abstract

It currently seems impossible to envisage disassociating an urban development project from its social and cultural counterpart, at least from the point of view of initiators and participants in planning projects. Sustainable urban intervention, often relying on the example of emblematic eco-neighbourhood operations, sees itself as working on the question of 'community living' and on the ressources of the inhabitants themselves, as much as on the democracy-related issues around the question of urban action. In their construction, renewed by sustainability and its 'social pillar', urban development projects seem ready to embrace those based in community work. From case studies of sustainable neighbourhoods in the Bordeaux conurbation and opening comparative perspectives with other national operations, this article proposes to analyse the variable place taken by community workers and more particularly social community centres in the process/measures of 'participatory governance'. The study of convergences and interaction between community work and urban sustainability turns out to reveal as many opportunities as tests concerning the position of social community centres in the participative creation of the sustainable city.

Keywords

• sustainable city
• participation
• ecodistricts
• community centres