The Preservation of Industrial Heritage as a Form of Urban Resilience. The Case Studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine

Abstract

The paper questions the meaning of preservation of industrial remnants in former industrial cities which are characterized, especially after their deindustrialization, by urban regeneration programs. Isolated buildings as factories and abandoned infrastructure and equipment dated on the industrial era are often demolished in favor of contemporary buildings which seem to better correspond to users’ needs and contemporary aesthetics. The two French case studies reported in the paper are considered as exemplary models of architectural and urban design forms in former industrial cities as they allow the dialogue between buildings, equipment, and infrastructure of different eras (industrial, contemporary). On the one hand we have the reconversion project Ile-de-Nantes, a brownfield within the former industrial city of Nantes, a city with a significant industrial heritage. On the other hand, we have the reconversion project Docks-de-Seine, a brownfield located in the city of Saint-Ouen in the outskirts of Paris. The study and comparison of the two case studies revealed the risk of gentrification in former industrial cities as their working-class identity changes due to the design of buildings by star architects, resulting in the arrival of executives and the rejection towards the cities’ periphery of the modest socio-professional categories.