Zero Net Artificialization: expert surveyors unveil 17 proposals at the end of their National Conference on Land Sobriety

The event which was held on July 3 and 4 simultaneously in Fort-de-France, Aix-en-Provence, Épernay and La Rochelle brought together more than 1.500 participants from the living environment and development sector. territories. At the end of the debates, the profession revealed the 17 measures it intends to take to make the fight against urban sprawl a reality.

A new format to address a crucial issue

“Land sobriety implies both a paradigm shift which will revolutionize the act of planning as a whole but also a territorialized implementation taking into account the constraints and assets of each space”, it is in these words that Séverine Vernet, President of the High Council of the Order of Expert Surveyors and the Assises Nationales de la Sobriété Foncière (ANSF), opened the discussions. And it is precisely to understand land sobriety in all its components that the profession has chosen a new format: the theme 'land sobriety in forest areas / protection of biodiversity' has thus been the subject of specific work in Fort-de -France, pilot site of these Conferences, 'land sobriety in peri-urban and rural areas' was at the heart of the debates in Épernay, 'land sobriety in urban areas' was studied in Aix-en-Provence when the La Rochelle session was dedicated to 'land sobriety in coastal areas'. International expertise, testimonies, debates and round tables punctuated these two days of exchanges. By choosing to open their Conference to other public and private stakeholders in territorial planning and the living environment, expert surveyors were able to confront everyone's expectations and realities.

For Philippe Pacaud, ANSF General Rapporteur: “These Conferences have shown that land sobriety does not necessarily mean a total halt to territorial projects. This indeed requires a change of approach but we wish to tell elected officials, public decision-makers and professionals in the sector that they have levers to continue to develop housing, build public facilities, host activity... while preserving biodiversity and fighting against urban sprawl. »

For Séverine Vernet: “Beyond the technical challenges, we see that there are also political and societal issues. Land sobriety cannot succeed without gaining the support of our fellow citizens. This is also what reveals the survey that we carried out with the Opinionway institute on the perception that the French have of land sobriety. There will be no trajectory of effective and humanly acceptable land sobriety without the mobilization of land experts and guarantors of a sustainable living environment that are expert surveyors! »

17 proposals for an effective and sustainable land optimization strategy

Within the framework of the ANSF, the Order of Surveyors has mandated three working groups. Their mission: to offer concrete tools to implement an effective and sustainable land optimization strategy across all territories.

The first group dealt with living soils, studying their qualities, functionalities and values. The second group addressed the development and restructuring of land plots, while the third focused on the renaturation and de-artificialization of urbanized spaces, as well as urban recomposition and buildings. The 17 proposals were unanimously validated by the Superior Council of the Order of Expert Surveyors. They have been compiled and detailed in a specific deliverable:

• Define - Submit for debate a legal definition of soil in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Code.
• Know - Implement a global approach and methodology for understanding soils, their forecasts for change and their capacity to evolve.
• Choose - Integrate soils into the content of the environmental assessment of planning documents and projects and into other environmental authorizations, notably the water law file.
• Promote - Restore a nourishing function to urbanized soils: “eat now... from the soil”
• Promote - Inform and raise awareness about soils: “soils, the star of today”
• Act - Implement financial provisions, at the planning level, include a “ground” bonus in the Global Decentralization Grant for local authorities and integrate a “ground” component in the specifications for the development of documents urban planning
• Anticipate - Anticipate the renaturation of risk areas, whether spontaneous or man-made, and integrate their use into the implementation of the ZAN “Nette”.
• Improve - Apply the sequence Improve Avoid Reduce Compensate AERC, with the A imposed on over-artificialized territories (a reverse bonus-malus)
• Expand - Rethink the project management of Agricultural, Forestry and Environmental Land Development (AFAFE) operations to respond to environmental challenges.
• Adapt - Give the possibility of launching an AFAFE procedure whose sole trigger is the environment so that local authorities have an operational tool to implement environmental projects on their territory.
• Sustain - Ensure that the environmental improvements resulting from the Agricultural, Forestry and Environmental Land Development (AFAFE) procedures continue once the procedure is closed.
• Innovate - Create the multi-site Urban Land Association for Environmental Compensation (AFU-CE).
• Modify - Modify the content of Local Urban Planning Plans (PLU) in order to allow adaptability to land opportunities and recreate real neighborhoods or small towns.
• Densify - Place the “Heart of the Block” Development and Programming Orientation (OAP) at the service of gentle densification of peri-urban areas.
• Intensify - Accelerate the raising of existing buildings to meet the environmental challenges of respecting the ZAN and insulation of buildings.
• Adapt - Lighten and relax the majority rules applicable to the modification of the specifications of existing subdivisions, when the decision aims to mobilize vacant land to respect the trajectory of land sobriety.
• Train - Set up a complete and certifying training course, on new methods and the vision of the new city, and open to professionals in the regional planning and living environment sector.

Discover the detailed content of the proposals here: Link