Urban development: how to create more sustainable cities?

The panel, comprising Vassilia Pirierros, architect, Géry Leloutre, Belgian urban architect, Ding Yifan, Chinese economist, and Fabrice Fourcade, EDF China Chairman, discussed the impact of urban planning on the environment and social equality.

Architect Géry Leloutre pointed out how the Paris 2024 Olympics transformed the city, in particular in terms of mobility and ecology.

His colleague Vassilia Pirierros compared the rates of urbanisation in China and France, stressing the need to introduce policies to limit urban sprawl, using the example of initiatives such as the Ecological Conservation Redline programme in China and France’s “zero net land take” target by 2050.

Ding Yifan clarified China’s new urbanisation plan, which aims at reversing the trend towards ever larger cities. The panel explored strategies for creating harmony between nature and urban environments, in particular the development of green spaces in large cities.

Combating “thermal sieves”

Fabrice Fourcade, Chairman of EDF China, emphasised the importance of improving the energy insulation of buildings. The experts discussed various initiatives, including the Sino-French Eco-City in Wuhan, as examples of sustainable urban development.