Single-family homes: the home of choice for a large proportion of French peoplebut often disparaged. Just over a quarter (27%) of households in the Paris region live in a detached house. The latter, however, is constantly being called into question by the French climate and resilience law, with its objective of zero net artificialisation. Emmanuelle Wargon, former French Minister for Housing, described this as “a major challenge”.ecological nonsense“single-family homes. “Suburban housing is often contrasted with the preservation of urban biodiversity.“This is the conclusion reached by Aliénor Heil-Selimanovski, a specialist in architecture and urban planning at Institut Paris Région, the Île-de-France region’s urban planning agency, who took part in a study published this Thursday on suburban housing in the Paris region.
The trend is towards demolition of pavilions to build apartment blocks and limit urban sprawl. In the Hauts-de-Seine department, for example, an average of 7 dwellings are built for every house demolished. No fewer than 6,000 multi-family dwellings are built every year on individual housing sites in the Paris region. Will the detached house disappear? In any case, they will be “to evolve and mutate. It’s a source of concern and controversy.“Jean-Philippe Dugoin-Clément, vice-president of the Île-de-France region, in charge of housing.
20% of bungalows occupied by a single person
Damien Delaville, an urban planner who took part in the study of housing in the Paris region, nevertheless observes that “for the past two/three years, densification has been on the decline. Communes are taking a step backwards, curbing the potential for densification. They’re doing more to preserve scarce housing. They have observed the adverse effects of the disappearance of single-family homes, such as water supply problems and saturated networks.“. Simple solutions exist to avoid over-densification while preserving the pavilions: “We can gain 30% of living space without changing the physical aspect of the urban planning, by working on the urban continuity of the street, on hollow spaces by raising buildings, without going for a hard reconstruction“suggests Jean-Philippe Dugoin-Clément. A sort of superimposed individual housing that could make up the city of tomorrow.
Another way to avoid urban sprawl: “encourage intergenerational housing, colocation and coliving , supporting change of use to combat under-occupation of housing“recommends Aliénor Heil-Selimanovski. Especially when you consider that 20% of single-family homes in the Paris region are occupied by a single person. Jean-Philippe Dugoin-Clément also points to the fact that pavilions are often created “in an informal, uncoordinated way“.
Intermediate forms of habitat
To help local authorities rethink their strategy, the Institut Paris Région has classified housing into five categories, including immobile housing, which obeys collective management rules, such as condominiums, that can block the evolution of the urban fabric. In particular, this is a type of housing where first-time buyers are very present and may have more limited financial capacity, preventing them from rethinking the built environment. This type of housing accounts for 52% of individual housing in the Paris region. Another category: rundown housing, often old, with many rental units in use. by sleep merchants which often weakens certain sectors with over-used and over-occupied buildings. Heritage housing with listed properties or properties of historical interest (Cf millstone houses, artists’ studios…) is more protected due to its rarity.
Two other types of housing have been identified: reinvested housing, which refers to old houses that have been renovated or extended with verandas or extensions, and adapted to new uses such as colocation or coliving; and densified housing, which is new construction that takes place in hollow spaces, for example, or through plot divisions. The risk induced by new uses such as colocation and coliving is that the single-family home will lose its “its function as a home for couples with children“As the study points out, this is a way of crowding out families and sending them to the bangs of the Paris Region or even further afield.
The aim of the study is also to go beyond a highly framed conception of the ideal single-family home and the less desirable collective dwelling, since it implies sharing spaces and reducing outside areas. It is possible to divide up the project to create smaller collective dwellings, either adjoining or superimposed, all with generous outdoor spaces.