Le Grand Pari(s) de l'agglomeration parisienne. Elementi per una riflessione sulla cittŕ e sull'urbanistica
- The consultation entitled ‘Le Grand Pari(s) de l'Agglomération Parisienne' launched by the French Ministry of Culture at the start of 2007 is providing material for a significant public debate within that rich workshop for thought on the contemporary city which Paris and the Ile de France have constituted for at least a decade. Many initiatives have in fact helped since 2000 to invigorate discussion on the urban region of Paris, with questions asked on urban transformations in progress on how to understand, describe, plan and govern the social, environmental, economical and political changes they bring. The article proposes some observations on the meaning of consultation, on its procedures and on its emerging issues with a focus in particular on objectives and outcomes, trying to direct thought to the contribution (to ways and contents) which urban planners (but also architects) can make to urban design seen as an exercise in thinking about the future of contemporary cities.