Grenoble is one of three evolving eco-districts—that include Delft, Netherlands and Växjö, Sweden—with the focus on establishing thriving local economies that emit less CO2 than the average development. Unlike many well-established eco-districts in Europe and elsewhere, this project was initiated from the top-down with the aim of reducing electricity, heating, promoting resource efficiency, as well as improving community awareness.
Two of the interns lived in the City of Freiburg, Germany, a city famous for its eco-district, Vauban that was developed in the late 1980s as a response to the anti-nuclear power movement after the devastating effects of Chernobyl. These interns have experienced first-hand what it is like to live around an ‘eco-district,’ baring witness to the integration and knowledge-transfer of Vauban to the residents in the surrounding area. Both interns are ‘sustainably minded,’ and are therefore well informed about the innovations and challenges that Vauban offers.
Vauban has the concept of a completely “car-free” district, where the streets are designed for pedestrians and lined with trees to create a cooling effect for the public. The de Bonne district, by contrast, appears to have forgotten the essential bicycle parking and concrete cutouts for trees leaving the city streets unfriendly to pedestrians. Vehicles seem to predominate the district streets, even with the narrow roads and one-direction passageways. There is one underground parking structure were residents can park on the periphery of the neighborhood.
Perhaps the district is too new to assess. Perhaps the people did not want to venture out on wet and cold streets of mid-September, but the streets felt empty and under-utilized.
An advantage that the de Bonne district has is that it was all planned together at the same time with a comprehensive viewpoint of buildings as a unit, road networks and the orientation of the blocks. Vauban, by contrast, oriented toward the south, with the longest axes facing east-to-west. The end result often compromises the building performance of solar gain.
These two eco-districts have conceptually similar ideals and yield very different results. Developing eco-districts is only as good as the integration of sustainable ideas into the surrounding community and sustaining those ideas through time. An eco-development without the surrounding city or region must rethink the way it makes policies, consumes resources, enacts transport networks, and engage the neighbouring community.
Grenoble is member of Energy Cities. The City actively participates to the SESAC European project and is signatory of the Covenant of Mayors.
Further information:
De Bonne Website (in French)
French Environment Ministry page about the ecodistrict (in French)
Source: Nancy J. Cole is a Renewable Energy Management Masters Student at the University of Freiburg, Germany and current intern at Energy Cities.
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