An interpretative framework for the urban banks of the Rhône

Cities and rivers share a deeply intertwined, rich history marked by alternating cycles of proximity and distance. Following a long period in which urban watercourses were disregarded, many people are now exploring opportunities for reconnection and renewal. Picking up on this theme, a PhD student at EPFL’s Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) completed her thesis on the complex, transnational space traversed by the Rhône and, more broadly, on the changing face of the river’s urban banks.

Four sites

In keeping with the vision of a low-carbon future, her thesis focused on four strategically situated sites that represent the issues raised by past and future developments along the Rhône’s banks. The waterside locations – in Sion and Geneva in Switzerland, and in Givors and Avignon in France – reveal that, with an attentive, sensitive eye and custom-designed visions of the future, there’s untapped potential for a specific urban identity to emerge.

These four hitherto neglected sites hold immense promise for the development of dense, mixed-use neighborhoods with good public transportation links.

These four hitherto neglected sites – each a riverside brownfield or derelict space – hold immense promise for the development of dense, mixed-use neighborhoods with good public transportation links. Moreover, the sites address the two-faceted challenge of achieving the ecological transition (notably through urban regeneration and resource conservation) while simultaneously building resilience (as for example through flood-risk management and heat-island mitigation strategies).

Interpretative framework

Beyond such issues of sustainability, the development of these neglected urban areas presents many challenges: from environmental, climate-related, economic and socio-cultural to landscaping, architectural and technical matters. The sheer number of issues at play suggests a need to reshape and revitalize the relationship between people and nature and, ultimately, to find a new balance between housing, human activities and the rewilding of riverside environments.

The LAST thesis provides an interpretative framework to help make sense of the local, regional and territorial challenges involved in regenerating the urban banks of the Rhône. It touches on themes such as spatial qualities, territorial governance, and the heritage, socio-cultural and utility values associated with waterways – all of which contribute to the resilience of urban riverside neighborhoods. This robust yet flexible framework adds to the existing pool of decision-support tools available to policymakers, managers, urban planners and architects involved in shaping the cities of tomorrow.

Sara Formery, architect and postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST), EPFL.

• This article appears in the October 2024 issue of Habitat magazine, which is published by three local dailies – La Côte (Vaud Canton), Le Nouvelliste (Valais Canton) and Arcinfo (Neuchâtel Canton) – under a joint initiative between EPFL and ESH Médias to showcase the R&D being carried out at EPFL on advanced construction techniques.