Abstract
The rate of urban development in flood-prone areas in the Paris region continues unabated. The new State orthodoxy in matters of urban planning predominantly rests on reducing the vulnerability of goods and population to flood risks which, as stated by French public authorities, should not systematically be equated to withholding development approvals or freezing risk-exposed territories. The challenge consists in controlling urbanization of the most exposed areas while providing the means for urban and economic development of already urbanized and less exposed areas. The new position taken by the State is leading contracting authorities to reoccupy sparcely urbanized flood-prone districts with the aim of constructing more housing and office buildings. In so doing, the planning strategies and principles at the nexus of environmental approaches to the compact city converge. This article reflects on the design of an urban renewal project “Seine Ardoines” (an industrial district in the town of Vitry-sur-Seine in the Ile-de-France region) and shows how the design process can benefit from the “guide plan”. Implemented as an original planning tool, it enables flood risks to be integrated into the urban regeneration of an industrial site, without calling into question the development strategies promoted by the local authorities.