"Lyon 1992-2010. Strategie e progetti per la città conteporanea"

The process of urban renewal which has taken place in Lyon in the last ten years can be assumed as exemplary of a more general transformation in planning instruments occurred in Europe since the eighties. A transformation which can be ascribed both to profound mutations in the context and to the extension of contemporary cities to larger metropolitan areas, and to a more general disciplinary reflection on planning and project tools. Lyon policy is extremely articulated in scales of action: from the construction of a strategy for the development of the metropolitan area (the Master plan, Schéma directeur) , to the arrangement of urban plan and projects for specific parts of the city. The deep integration of all these levels constitutes a peculiarity of the Lyon case. Each project assumes a particular value because it is part of a more general structure. A structure which re-organises the whole metropolis by drawing a new framework of thematic planning systems: the revitalisation of public spaces in the centre and in suburban housing districts; the enhancement of urban landscape, parks and historical parts of the city; the creation of new poles of urban and economic development; the re-interpretation of the places of mobility and the realisation of a new public transport and road network. In order to guarantee the functioning of such a complex apparatus of planning instruments and strategies an overall change has taken place inside the administration services. The Communauté urbaine du Grand Lyon and the Agence d’urbanisme have promoted a process of coordination and control of the quality of projects and of monitoring of the results, through the construction of a continuous dialogue with the numerous actors and committees involved in each operation.