1_GRAND PROJETS ARE IMPORTANT DRIVERS AND TEST-BEDS OF URBAN TRANSFORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES

Grands Projets are mirrors of societal change. In analysing the ambitions behind our case studies and within their broader socio-political contexts, we found that Grands Projets seldomly follow pre-existing urban conditions or established planning and development processes; rather, they create their own. They become vehicles of modernisation, urban renewal and extension. They are testing grounds for planning guidelines, programmes, energy standards, mobility concepts and/or open space activation and management, which, in many cases, establish new benchmarks in local and regional planning practices. 

With respect to more mature projects, such as Marunouchi in Tokyo or La Défense in Paris, modernisation is a key initiating ambition of Grands Projets. These projects introduce a new urban development logic that helps manifest political and economic agendas of their cities at a given time, with varying aspirations, complexities, timeframes and stakeholder involvement. The conceptions of La Défense and Marunouchi marked a particular moment in time—a post-isolation and post-war moment—and the beginning of a new era. This is ultimately reflected in a new understanding of the city itself, with Grands Projets becoming the spatial manifestation of these ideas in practice.

In the case of urban renewal ambitions, Grands Projets become vehicles for revitalising outdated brownfield land in central areas and materialising emergent trends and technologies. The development of 22@ in Barcelona addressed the city centre’s pressing lack of office space by reusing the existing obsolete industrial fabric within the Poblenou area. The emerging narratives of a knowledge economy and information society at the turn of the century resulted in the area’s focus on information technology and media. The current redevelopment of King’s Cross in London was catalysed by the construction of the international rail-link to Europe, which triggered the revitalisation of centrally located railway land brownfield into a mixed-use quarter with a focus on creative industries and activities.

Grands Projets also serve as means of urban extension to relieve development pressure and increase urban territory. Urban extensions frequently involve land reclamation and result in a significant increase in built-up urban land. The West Kowloon project in Hong Kong, for example, was built on reclaimed land leftover from infrastructural developments of the 1990s connecting Hong Kong Island to Chek Lap Kok Airport.

The ambitions driving Grands Projets are multiple and dynamic, and they often evolve over time. The case of Marina Bay Area best illustrates this: the development initially coincided with Singapore’s ambitions for modernisation—namely, to transition from a post-colonial city into a modern metropolis—and urban renewal of its city centre before the area expanded through land reclamation, exhibiting Singapore’s growth into a global metropolis. Underpinning this range of megaproject ambitions are the transformative capacity of Grands Projets, inherent in their scale —“mega”—and the significance they garner within a city’s urban development. These ultimately enable actualisation of project aspirations.

Reference

Any reference to or use of the content present on this page has to be cited as follow: Gasco, Anna, and Naomi C. Hanakata. 2019. ‘The Potential of Grands Projets for Inclusive and Adaptable Future Cities’. In The Grand Projet: Understanding the Making and Impact of Urban Megaprojects, edited by Kees Christiaanse, Anna Gasco, and Naomi C. Hanakata, 603–612. nai 010 Publishers.