{"id":9198,"date":"2025-09-15T13:41:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/?p=9198"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:58:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T07:58:13","slug":"is-it-all-that-simple-to-make-urban-development-eco-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/articles\/is-it-all-that-simple-to-make-urban-development-eco-friendly\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Is it all that simple to make urban development eco-friendly?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"projet
Urban project in the Lille metropolitan area, still featuring a lot of concrete and little vegetation (Florentin, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each heatwave makes it clearer, at an ever-growing pace: our urban spaces are not ecological enough, particularly in European contexts. The materials used are often not adapted to the environmental transformations underway, space for living entities is still relegated to the margins, and social practices remain far from establishing a common sense application of resource sufficiency. Though there are many technical documents and reports showing what a more eco-friendly city could or should look like, it is rare for this to actually occur. Why is it not so simple to transform urban spaces and urban development practices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through an undergoing collective research project1<\/a><\/sup> undertaken over several years in direct collaboration with a number of French public land developers seeking to change their operating methods and practices, we were able to see how acute this issue was to professionals. It questions not only the working methods but also the very existence of land development, which historically has been closely linked to land take in order to build housing or facilities. At professional conferences, such as Club Ville et Am\u00e9nagement<\/a>, the message has been clear for several years: we can no longer enact land development like before. The current economic and functional model, used to create local infrastructure, has reached a certain obsolescence, by making the construction of a new building more profitable than a park or wetland. This research documents the many challenges involved in the profound transformation of this activity, particularly when led by land developers (mainly public). Three of these challenges are described in this article: they are representative of many of the questions raised, and they evoke some of the crucial conditions needed to make development and habitability compatible in a single space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecologising land development: a change in the regimes of attention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, the environmental transformation of land development requires a change in the regimes of attention for stakeholders involved in urban projects – particularly land developers, who manage the regulatory and organisational aspects. In short, what do we take into account when designing and implementing an urban project?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means being sensitive to dimensions that have long\u00a0been ignored. One example of this consists in considering soil not as a substrate but as a living environment, whose functionalities must be understood in order to be maintained and consolidated as much as possible. It also means paying greater attention to biodiversity, different materials (their environmental footprint and availability), energy issues and the various elements involved in urban ecological challenges. In concrete terms, this translates into the use of new expertise, whether internalised or otherwise, within public land developers. Some land developers have chosen to recruit naturalists to their teams, in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics in action in the living environment in their field of intervention, beyond the strict observance of regulatory requirements. Ecologising land development thus involves expanding the scope of technical expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecologising land development: negotiating environmental objectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ecological transformation of land development not only requires the acquisition of new forms of knowledge, but also the ability of land development stakeholders to appropriate and use this knowledge to change how urban projects are carried out. This can be summed up by the following question: what do we make count when making land development choices? One of the challenges of ecologising land development is ensuring that these new elements become sizing factors, rather than remaining at the level of theoretical knowledge without any transformative capacity. A concrete example can be found in a city in the Arcachon Basin, where the public land developer managing an urban project was faced with a specific situation. One of the real estate developers due to build on the site as part of the project asked the public land developer to forego certain environmental goals, regarding biosourced raw earth materials, in order to ensure a certain financial balance. Thanks to meticulous analysis of the real estate developer’s financial documents and a detailed grasp of certain environmental parameters, the project manager was able to negotiate with the real estate developer while holding firm on their ecological commitments. This made it possible to avoid value capture by solely the private-sector player, and a downgrading of environmental ambitions. Ecologising land development thus depends upon the ability to negotiate and ensure ecological metrics do count and matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecologising land development: changing accounting frameworks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, this ability to take ecological factors into consideration is still largely driven by economic parameters. One of the most complicated challenges of the ecological transformation of development lies in a broader reversal: how can we change accounting schemes to ensure that \u201cwhat really counts\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> to make an urban space habitable is taken into account? At present, the methods used are often resting on a priori monetization processes, in which facilities are reduced to a reference value, known as a tutelary value: in this context, the tutelary values for a green space, wetland or ecological corridor are either not stabilised, or extremely low and unable to compete with the value of a building. Research on ecological accounting3<\/a><\/sup> (particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer), used in the Ecomodam research project, invites us to flip this perspective. Rather than thinking about how much a particular building, facility or type of space is worth, the idea is to analyse the elements to be developed and transformed to achieve a healthy ecosystem and assess the associated cost, enabling a posteriori monetization, guided by ecological objectives rather than an economic framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, defining what constitutes a healthy ecosystem remains a highly complex task, as yet not scientifically established. This is currently the subject of experiments in several French regions as part of the Ecomodam project.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. ANR project, Ecologisation of Business and Technical Models of Urban Development Companies \u2013 Ecomodam<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. To employ the expression often used by those promoting environmental accounting, and in particular the CARE method (Comprehensive Accounting in Respect of Ecology) \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Each heatwave makes it clearer, at an ever-growing pace: our urban spaces are not ecological enough, particularly in European contexts. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_related_content_post":[],"_related_content_subject":[937,936],"_related_content_author":[9204],"_related_content_category":[1720,1716],"_related_content_folder":[9206,9213],"_excerpt":"If building an ecological city was merely a technical matter, we would have achieved this a long time ago. The environmental transformation of development projects is a complex and multifaceted process that touches on the professional culture, accounting frameworks and capacity for negotiation of different stakeholders in urban projects.","_duration":4,"_manual_duration":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"ANR project, Ecologisation of Business and Technical Models of Urban Development Companies \u2013 Ecomodam<\/a>\",\"id\":\"736d962f-8a25-4d60-8aac-9845e2d34b78\"},{\"content\":\"To employ the expression often used by those promoting environmental accounting, and in particular the CARE method (Comprehensive Accounting in Respect of Ecology)\",\"id\":\"fb588086-e218-4e88-976d-05660e980561\"},{\"content\":\"Particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer<\/a>\",\"id\":\"fce901d7-f0a5-4039-99fb-8723e8805319\"}]"},"article-types":[13,27],"class_list":["post-9198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-types-article","article-types-folder"],"has_blocks":true,"block_data":[{"blockName":"enpc\/excerpt","attrs":{"lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":""},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"id":9024,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none","align":"wide","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Projet-urbain-dans-lagglomeration-lilloise-Florentin2023-1024x768.jpg","alt":"projet urbain dans l\u2019agglom\u00e9ration lilloise, toujours tr\u00e8s min\u00e9ral et faiblement \u00e9cologis\u00e9 (Florentin, 2023)","caption":"Urban project in the Lille metropolitan area, still featuring a lot of concrete and little vegetation (Florentin, 2023)","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"wp-block-image alignwide size-large","style":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    \"projet
    Urban project in the Lille metropolitan area, still featuring a lot of concrete and little vegetation (Florentin, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["\n
    \"projet
    Urban project in the Lille metropolitan area, still featuring a lot of concrete and little vegetation (Florentin, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"\n
    \"projet
    Urban project in the Lille metropolitan area, still featuring a lot of concrete and little vegetation (Florentin, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Each heatwave makes it clearer, at an ever-growing pace: our urban spaces are not ecological enough, particularly in European contexts. The materials used are often not adapted to the environmental transformations underway, space for living entities is still relegated to the margins, and social practices remain far from establishing a common sense application of resource sufficiency. Though there are many technical documents and reports showing what a more eco-friendly city could or should look like, it is rare for this to actually occur. Why is it not so simple to transform urban spaces and urban development practices?","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    Each heatwave makes it clearer, at an ever-growing pace: our urban spaces are not ecological enough, particularly in European contexts. The materials used are often not adapted to the environmental transformations underway, space for living entities is still relegated to the margins, and social practices remain far from establishing a common sense application of resource sufficiency. Though there are many technical documents and reports showing what a more eco-friendly city could or should look like, it is rare for this to actually occur. Why is it not so simple to transform urban spaces and urban development practices?<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    Each heatwave makes it clearer, at an ever-growing pace: our urban spaces are not ecological enough, particularly in European contexts. The materials used are often not adapted to the environmental transformations underway, space for living entities is still relegated to the margins, and social practices remain far from establishing a common sense application of resource sufficiency. Though there are many technical documents and reports showing what a more eco-friendly city could or should look like, it is rare for this to actually occur. Why is it not so simple to transform urban spaces and urban development practices?<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    Each heatwave makes it clearer, at an ever-growing pace: our urban spaces are not ecological enough, particularly in European contexts. The materials used are often not adapted to the environmental transformations underway, space for living entities is still relegated to the margins, and social practices remain far from establishing a common sense application of resource sufficiency. Though there are many technical documents and reports showing what a more eco-friendly city could or should look like, it is rare for this to actually occur. Why is it not so simple to transform urban spaces and urban development practices?<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Through an undergoing collective research project1 undertaken over several years in direct collaboration with a number of French public land developers seeking to change their operating methods and practices, we were able to see how acute this issue was to professionals. It questions not only the working methods but also the very existence of land development, which historically has been closely linked to land take in order to build housing or facilities. At professional conferences, such as Club Ville et Am\u00e9nagement, the message has been clear for several years: we can no longer enact land development like before. The current economic and functional model, used to create local infrastructure, has reached a certain obsolescence, by making the construction of a new building more profitable than a park or wetland. This research documents the many challenges involved in the profound transformation of this activity, particularly when led by land developers (mainly public). Three of these challenges are described in this article: they are representative of many of the questions raised, and they evoke some of the crucial conditions needed to make development and habitability compatible in a single space.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    Through an undergoing collective research project1<\/a><\/sup> undertaken over several years in direct collaboration with a number of French public land developers seeking to change their operating methods and practices, we were able to see how acute this issue was to professionals. It questions not only the working methods but also the very existence of land development, which historically has been closely linked to land take in order to build housing or facilities. At professional conferences, such as Club Ville et Am\u00e9nagement<\/a>, the message has been clear for several years: we can no longer enact land development like before. The current economic and functional model, used to create local infrastructure, has reached a certain obsolescence, by making the construction of a new building more profitable than a park or wetland. This research documents the many challenges involved in the profound transformation of this activity, particularly when led by land developers (mainly public). Three of these challenges are described in this article: they are representative of many of the questions raised, and they evoke some of the crucial conditions needed to make development and habitability compatible in a single space.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    Through an undergoing collective research project1<\/a><\/sup> undertaken over several years in direct collaboration with a number of French public land developers seeking to change their operating methods and practices, we were able to see how acute this issue was to professionals. It questions not only the working methods but also the very existence of land development, which historically has been closely linked to land take in order to build housing or facilities. At professional conferences, such as Club Ville et Am\u00e9nagement<\/a>, the message has been clear for several years: we can no longer enact land development like before. The current economic and functional model, used to create local infrastructure, has reached a certain obsolescence, by making the construction of a new building more profitable than a park or wetland. This research documents the many challenges involved in the profound transformation of this activity, particularly when led by land developers (mainly public). Three of these challenges are described in this article: they are representative of many of the questions raised, and they evoke some of the crucial conditions needed to make development and habitability compatible in a single space.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    Through an undergoing collective research project1<\/a><\/sup> undertaken over several years in direct collaboration with a number of French public land developers seeking to change their operating methods and practices, we were able to see how acute this issue was to professionals. It questions not only the working methods but also the very existence of land development, which historically has been closely linked to land take in order to build housing or facilities. At professional conferences, such as Club Ville et Am\u00e9nagement<\/a>, the message has been clear for several years: we can no longer enact land development like before. The current economic and functional model, used to create local infrastructure, has reached a certain obsolescence, by making the construction of a new building more profitable than a park or wetland. This research documents the many challenges involved in the profound transformation of this activity, particularly when led by land developers (mainly public). Three of these challenges are described in this article: they are representative of many of the questions raised, and they evoke some of the crucial conditions needed to make development and habitability compatible in a single space.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"style":{"elements":{"link":{"color":{"text":"var:preset|color|red"}}}},"textColor":"red","textAlign":"","content":"Ecologising land development: a change in the regimes of attention","level":2,"levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"wp-block-heading has-red-color has-text-color has-link-color","backgroundColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    Ecologising land development: a change in the regimes of attention<\/h2>\n","innerContent":["\n

    Ecologising land development: a change in the regimes of attention<\/h2>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    Ecologising land development: a change in the regimes of attention<\/h2>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"First and foremost, the environmental transformation of land development requires a change in the regimes of attention for stakeholders involved in urban projects - particularly land developers, who manage the regulatory and organisational aspects. In short, what do we take into account when designing and implementing an urban project?","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    First and foremost, the environmental transformation of land development requires a change in the regimes of attention for stakeholders involved in urban projects - particularly land developers, who manage the regulatory and organisational aspects. In short, what do we take into account when designing and implementing an urban project?<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    First and foremost, the environmental transformation of land development requires a change in the regimes of attention for stakeholders involved in urban projects - particularly land developers, who manage the regulatory and organisational aspects. In short, what do we take into account when designing and implementing an urban project?<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    First and foremost, the environmental transformation of land development requires a change in the regimes of attention for stakeholders involved in urban projects - particularly land developers, who manage the regulatory and organisational aspects. In short, what do we take into account when designing and implementing an urban project?<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"This means being sensitive to dimensions that have long\u00a0been ignored. One example of this consists in considering soil not as a substrate but as a living environment, whose functionalities must be understood in order to be maintained and consolidated as much as possible. It also means paying greater attention to biodiversity, different materials (their environmental footprint and availability), energy issues and the various elements involved in urban ecological challenges. In concrete terms, this translates into the use of new expertise, whether internalised or otherwise, within public land developers. Some land developers have chosen to recruit naturalists to their teams, in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics in action in the living environment in their field of intervention, beyond the strict observance of regulatory requirements. Ecologising land development thus involves expanding the scope of technical expertise.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    This means being sensitive to dimensions that have long\u00a0been ignored. One example of this consists in considering soil not as a substrate but as a living environment, whose functionalities must be understood in order to be maintained and consolidated as much as possible. It also means paying greater attention to biodiversity, different materials (their environmental footprint and availability), energy issues and the various elements involved in urban ecological challenges. In concrete terms, this translates into the use of new expertise, whether internalised or otherwise, within public land developers. Some land developers have chosen to recruit naturalists to their teams, in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics in action in the living environment in their field of intervention, beyond the strict observance of regulatory requirements. Ecologising land development thus involves expanding the scope of technical expertise.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    This means being sensitive to dimensions that have long\u00a0been ignored. One example of this consists in considering soil not as a substrate but as a living environment, whose functionalities must be understood in order to be maintained and consolidated as much as possible. It also means paying greater attention to biodiversity, different materials (their environmental footprint and availability), energy issues and the various elements involved in urban ecological challenges. In concrete terms, this translates into the use of new expertise, whether internalised or otherwise, within public land developers. Some land developers have chosen to recruit naturalists to their teams, in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics in action in the living environment in their field of intervention, beyond the strict observance of regulatory requirements. Ecologising land development thus involves expanding the scope of technical expertise.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    This means being sensitive to dimensions that have long\u00a0been ignored. One example of this consists in considering soil not as a substrate but as a living environment, whose functionalities must be understood in order to be maintained and consolidated as much as possible. It also means paying greater attention to biodiversity, different materials (their environmental footprint and availability), energy issues and the various elements involved in urban ecological challenges. In concrete terms, this translates into the use of new expertise, whether internalised or otherwise, within public land developers. Some land developers have chosen to recruit naturalists to their teams, in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics in action in the living environment in their field of intervention, beyond the strict observance of regulatory requirements. Ecologising land development thus involves expanding the scope of technical expertise.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"style":{"elements":{"link":{"color":{"text":"var:preset|color|red"}}}},"textColor":"red","textAlign":"","content":"Ecologising land development: negotiating environmental objectives","level":2,"levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"wp-block-heading has-red-color has-text-color has-link-color","backgroundColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    Ecologising land development: negotiating environmental objectives<\/h2>\n","innerContent":["\n

    Ecologising land development: negotiating environmental objectives<\/h2>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    Ecologising land development: negotiating environmental objectives<\/h2>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"The ecological transformation of land development not only requires the acquisition of new forms of knowledge, but also the ability of land development stakeholders to appropriate and use this knowledge to change how urban projects are carried out. This can be summed up by the following question: what do we make count when making land development choices? One of the challenges of ecologising land development is ensuring that these new elements become sizing factors, rather than remaining at the level of theoretical knowledge without any transformative capacity. A concrete example can be found in a city in the Arcachon Basin, where the public land developer managing an urban project was faced with a specific situation. One of the real estate developers due to build on the site as part of the project asked the public land developer to forego certain environmental goals, regarding biosourced raw earth materials, in order to ensure a certain financial balance. Thanks to meticulous analysis of the real estate developer's financial documents and a detailed grasp of certain environmental parameters, the project manager was able to negotiate with the real estate developer while holding firm on their ecological commitments. This made it possible to avoid value capture by solely the private-sector player, and a downgrading of environmental ambitions. Ecologising land development thus depends upon the ability to negotiate and ensure ecological metrics do count and matter.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    The ecological transformation of land development not only requires the acquisition of new forms of knowledge, but also the ability of land development stakeholders to appropriate and use this knowledge to change how urban projects are carried out. This can be summed up by the following question: what do we make count when making land development choices? One of the challenges of ecologising land development is ensuring that these new elements become sizing factors, rather than remaining at the level of theoretical knowledge without any transformative capacity. A concrete example can be found in a city in the Arcachon Basin, where the public land developer managing an urban project was faced with a specific situation. One of the real estate developers due to build on the site as part of the project asked the public land developer to forego certain environmental goals, regarding biosourced raw earth materials, in order to ensure a certain financial balance. Thanks to meticulous analysis of the real estate developer's financial documents and a detailed grasp of certain environmental parameters, the project manager was able to negotiate with the real estate developer while holding firm on their ecological commitments. This made it possible to avoid value capture by solely the private-sector player, and a downgrading of environmental ambitions. Ecologising land development thus depends upon the ability to negotiate and ensure ecological metrics do count and matter.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    The ecological transformation of land development not only requires the acquisition of new forms of knowledge, but also the ability of land development stakeholders to appropriate and use this knowledge to change how urban projects are carried out. This can be summed up by the following question: what do we make count when making land development choices? One of the challenges of ecologising land development is ensuring that these new elements become sizing factors, rather than remaining at the level of theoretical knowledge without any transformative capacity. A concrete example can be found in a city in the Arcachon Basin, where the public land developer managing an urban project was faced with a specific situation. One of the real estate developers due to build on the site as part of the project asked the public land developer to forego certain environmental goals, regarding biosourced raw earth materials, in order to ensure a certain financial balance. Thanks to meticulous analysis of the real estate developer's financial documents and a detailed grasp of certain environmental parameters, the project manager was able to negotiate with the real estate developer while holding firm on their ecological commitments. This made it possible to avoid value capture by solely the private-sector player, and a downgrading of environmental ambitions. Ecologising land development thus depends upon the ability to negotiate and ensure ecological metrics do count and matter.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    The ecological transformation of land development not only requires the acquisition of new forms of knowledge, but also the ability of land development stakeholders to appropriate and use this knowledge to change how urban projects are carried out. This can be summed up by the following question: what do we make count when making land development choices? One of the challenges of ecologising land development is ensuring that these new elements become sizing factors, rather than remaining at the level of theoretical knowledge without any transformative capacity. A concrete example can be found in a city in the Arcachon Basin, where the public land developer managing an urban project was faced with a specific situation. One of the real estate developers due to build on the site as part of the project asked the public land developer to forego certain environmental goals, regarding biosourced raw earth materials, in order to ensure a certain financial balance. Thanks to meticulous analysis of the real estate developer's financial documents and a detailed grasp of certain environmental parameters, the project manager was able to negotiate with the real estate developer while holding firm on their ecological commitments. This made it possible to avoid value capture by solely the private-sector player, and a downgrading of environmental ambitions. Ecologising land development thus depends upon the ability to negotiate and ensure ecological metrics do count and matter.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"style":{"elements":{"link":{"color":{"text":"var:preset|color|red"}}}},"textColor":"red","textAlign":"","content":"Ecologising land development: changing accounting frameworks","level":2,"levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"wp-block-heading has-red-color has-text-color has-link-color","backgroundColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    Ecologising land development: changing accounting frameworks<\/h2>\n","innerContent":["\n

    Ecologising land development: changing accounting frameworks<\/h2>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    Ecologising land development: changing accounting frameworks<\/h2>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"However, this ability to take ecological factors into consideration is still largely driven by economic parameters. One of the most complicated challenges of the ecological transformation of development lies in a broader reversal: how can we change accounting schemes to ensure that \u201cwhat really counts\u201d2 to make an urban space habitable is taken into account? At present, the methods used are often resting on a priori monetization processes, in which facilities are reduced to a reference value, known as a tutelary value: in this context, the tutelary values for a green space, wetland or ecological corridor are either not stabilised, or extremely low and unable to compete with the value of a building. Research on ecological accounting3 (particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer), used in the Ecomodam research project, invites us to flip this perspective. Rather than thinking about how much a particular building, facility or type of space is worth, the idea is to analyse the elements to be developed and transformed to achieve a healthy ecosystem and assess the associated cost, enabling a posteriori monetization, guided by ecological objectives rather than an economic framework.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    However, this ability to take ecological factors into consideration is still largely driven by economic parameters. One of the most complicated challenges of the ecological transformation of development lies in a broader reversal: how can we change accounting schemes to ensure that \u201cwhat really counts\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> to make an urban space habitable is taken into account? At present, the methods used are often resting on a priori monetization processes, in which facilities are reduced to a reference value, known as a tutelary value: in this context, the tutelary values for a green space, wetland or ecological corridor are either not stabilised, or extremely low and unable to compete with the value of a building. Research on ecological accounting3<\/a><\/sup> (particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer), used in the Ecomodam research project, invites us to flip this perspective. Rather than thinking about how much a particular building, facility or type of space is worth, the idea is to analyse the elements to be developed and transformed to achieve a healthy ecosystem and assess the associated cost, enabling a posteriori monetization, guided by ecological objectives rather than an economic framework.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    However, this ability to take ecological factors into consideration is still largely driven by economic parameters. One of the most complicated challenges of the ecological transformation of development lies in a broader reversal: how can we change accounting schemes to ensure that \u201cwhat really counts\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> to make an urban space habitable is taken into account? At present, the methods used are often resting on a priori monetization processes, in which facilities are reduced to a reference value, known as a tutelary value: in this context, the tutelary values for a green space, wetland or ecological corridor are either not stabilised, or extremely low and unable to compete with the value of a building. Research on ecological accounting3<\/a><\/sup> (particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer), used in the Ecomodam research project, invites us to flip this perspective. Rather than thinking about how much a particular building, facility or type of space is worth, the idea is to analyse the elements to be developed and transformed to achieve a healthy ecosystem and assess the associated cost, enabling a posteriori monetization, guided by ecological objectives rather than an economic framework.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    However, this ability to take ecological factors into consideration is still largely driven by economic parameters. One of the most complicated challenges of the ecological transformation of development lies in a broader reversal: how can we change accounting schemes to ensure that \u201cwhat really counts\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> to make an urban space habitable is taken into account? At present, the methods used are often resting on a priori monetization processes, in which facilities are reduced to a reference value, known as a tutelary value: in this context, the tutelary values for a green space, wetland or ecological corridor are either not stabilised, or extremely low and unable to compete with the value of a building. Research on ecological accounting3<\/a><\/sup> (particularly the work of Harold Levrel and Antoine Missemer), used in the Ecomodam research project, invites us to flip this perspective. Rather than thinking about how much a particular building, facility or type of space is worth, the idea is to analyse the elements to be developed and transformed to achieve a healthy ecosystem and assess the associated cost, enabling a posteriori monetization, guided by ecological objectives rather than an economic framework.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"That said, defining what constitutes a healthy ecosystem remains a highly complex task, as yet not scientifically established. This is currently the subject of experiments in several French regions as part of the Ecomodam project.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    That said, defining what constitutes a healthy ecosystem remains a highly complex task, as yet not scientifically established. This is currently the subject of experiments in several French regions as part of the Ecomodam project.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    That said, defining what constitutes a healthy ecosystem remains a highly complex task, as yet not scientifically established. This is currently the subject of experiments in several French regions as part of the Ecomodam project.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    That said, defining what constitutes a healthy ecosystem remains a highly complex task, as yet not scientifically established. This is currently the subject of experiments in several French regions as part of the Ecomodam project.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/footnotes","attrs":{"lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":""},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":"","backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n

    <\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n

    <\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n

    <\/p>\n"}],"seo":{"title":"Is it all that simple to make urban development eco-friendly?"},"media":{"img":"\"projet","src":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Projet-urbain-dans-lagglomeration-lilloise-Florentin2023.jpg"},"url":"\/en\/articles\/is-it-all-that-simple-to-make-urban-development-eco-friendly\/","related":{"post":[],"author":[{"title":"Daniel Florentin","url":"\/en\/authors\/daniel-florentin\/","id":"9204","media":"\"unknown\"","slug":"daniel-florentin"}],"subject":[{"title":"Energy, Ecology & Climate","url":"\/en\/subjects\/energy-ecology-climate\/","id":"937","media":"\"\"","slug":"energy-ecology-climate"},{"title":"Cities, Urban planning & Construction","url":"\/en\/subjects\/cities-urban-planning-construction\/","id":"936","media":"\"\"","slug":"cities-urban-planning-construction"}],"category":[{"title":"Article collection","url":"\/en\/articles\/category\/dossier\/","id":"1720","media":"","slug":"dossier","_related_post_type":"folder"},{"title":"Articles","url":"\/en\/articles\/category\/articles\/","id":"1716","media":"","slug":"articles","_related_post_type":""}],"folder":[{"title":"The challenges of the environmental and energy transition for local authorities","url":"\/en\/folders\/the-challenges-of-the-environmental-and-energy-transition-for-local-authorities\/","id":"9213","media":"\"projet","slug":"the-challenges-of-the-environmental-and-energy-transition-for-local-authorities"}]},"translated":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/articles\/est-ce-si-simple-de-transformer-ecologiquement-lamenagement-urbain\/","icon":"icon-article","duration":"4","custom_excerpt":"If building an ecological city was merely a technical matter, we would have achieved this a long time ago. The environmental transformation of development projects is a complex and multifaceted process that touches on the professional culture, accounting frameworks and capacity for negotiation of different stakeholders in urban projects.","duration_type":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9198"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9251,"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198\/revisions\/9251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-types?post=9198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}