The urban fabric of detached housing in Métropole du Grand Paris is transforming under the influence of changing life styles, rising prices and the pressure from promoters and developers in search of land, particularly in areas close to stations.
Throughout the Covid-19 crisis and lock-down, it became apparent that detached houses are much more bearable for families to live in than apartments. However areas with a detached housing urban fabric are becoming more fragile in sectors of the metropolis where the pressures of land prices are high, particularly those close to public transport lines. Apart from their demolition, there are other transformations underway: building extensions with or without increased height, dividing land plots and dividing detached houses. What framework and what accompaniment can be provided for these transformations?
This note proposes a portrait of 446,000 detached houses in Métropole du Grand Paris with maps, the main stages of their development, their diverse architecture and the profiles of those who live in them. It emphasises the essential role played by gardens linked to these houses which represent 9,000 hectares of green spaces and a potential 3,700 more hectares of gardens to be created.
The note concludes with a series of issues illustrating the major challenges for the detached housing urban fabric in the years to come: the framework and accompaniment of changes, thermal renovation, expansion of the ecological and social role of gardens and the preservation of open ground, the diversification of how it is used to encourage its multi-functionality.
