From the ostensible objectives of public policies to the reality of changes: Local orders of densification in the urban regions of Paris and Rome

Abstract

Densification has become a general battlecry of “post-suburban policies”. Yet the reality of densification processes does not necessarily correspond to the objectives of those policies. Through a comparative analysis of Paris (France) and Rome (Italy), our contribution shows that the densification of the urban fabric takes place, at least in part, outside the areas specified in planning documents, and on the margins of development projects driven by local authorities. Densification therefore represents an aggregation of private construction projects, within a single territory, projects that the authorities try as far as possible to manage through more or less formal negotiations. Local governments are also faced with problematic induced effects – which they have subsequently to handle – on public spaces, public infrastructures, or indeed the environment. Our study ultimately highlight the existence of 'local orders' of densification beyond planning documents at a submetropolitan scale, and explores the capacity of the public actors to control the changes to suburban areas by means of urban planning and project instruments.