François Ascher, founder of the City on the Move Institute, died on June 8 2009. He launched this program.
This panel publicly “questions” one or two US experts on a specific subject. The experts answer specific, preprepared questions. The hearing provides an occasion for a comparison of views and an exploration of areas of controversy. The format of successive hearings helps to gradually develop the outlines of the debate and the issues.
Niels Albertsen
is a political scientist, research professor, head of the Department of Landscape and Urbanism at the Aarhus School of Architecture (AAA) and co-director of the Centre for Strategic Urban Research (CSUR). His research has dealt with urban and social theory, the sociology of the architectural profession and the sociology and philosophy of art. He directed the “Welfare City Project” (AAA, 1997-2002), which investigated the urbanisation processes related to the rise and transformation of the Danish Welfare State (1950-2000). In CSUR the research focus is on “the city without limit”, which includes research into the new patterns of mobility emerging in the urban regions in Denmark as well as the question of sustainability.
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the Arrhus School of Architecture website (in Danish)
François Ascher †
(1946 - 2009), an urban planning specialist with a degree in economics and a doctorate in urban studies and social sciences, was Director of the Paris Academy’s Urban Planning Institute from 1981 to 1986. At that time, his interest was the development of urban planning and the development of ideas on the future of cities. He was involved in the development of urban research at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (1986-1999), at DATAR (1990-1993) and then at the Ministry of Research. Since 2000, he chaired the Scientific Council of the City on the Move Institute. He was also a member of the RATP’s Strategic and Scientific Committee, and of the editorial boards of the Annals of Urban Research and Local Authorities. He was a professor at the French Institute of Urban Planning (University Paris VIII, Marne-La-Vallée).
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the University Paris VIII website (in French)
His biography (in French)
Nicolas Chaudron
is a former student at the École normale supérieure and at the University of Beijing in China, agrégé in mathematics and holder of a diploma of advanced studies in mathematics (Paris VI), of an MBA from the College of Engineers and an MBA from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), where he was appointed Palmer Scholar. Before joining AGF Private Equity in 2001, he began his career in risk capital with Europatweb, the Arnault Group’s Internet investment structure. Between 2001 and 2005, he was an executive director of Siriatech and Vizelia, pioneering firms in the field of sustainable development innovation. Since 2006, he has worked primarily in the sustainable development sector and was responsible for AGF Private Equity’s investment in Odersun (producer of thin-film photovoltaic cells).
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the AGF Private Equity website
Vincent Kaufmann
is a sociologist with a Ph.D. in science from Lausanne Federal Polytechnic, and heads LaSUR, the Polytechnic’s Laboratory of Urban Sociology. The primary focus of his research is urban lifestyles (multi-residency, temporal and spatial arrangement of activity programs), spatial development and urban transportation policies (establishment and evaluation) and the notion of mobility and its importance in terms of social structuring. Appointed an assistant professor at Lausanne Polytechnic in September 2003, he and his team are developing a research program analyzing the current transformations to cities on the basis of the mobility of city dwellers.
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the EPFL website (in French)
Thomas Lagier
obtained his PhD from the University of Poitiers (France) in 2000. He worked as an associate professor in the water sciences institute in Limoges in 2000-2001 and joined the French environmental agency in 2001-2002 were he was in charge of organic content waste treatment technologies. In 2002, he joined the research centre of Veolia Environnement (CREED) in Paris. In 2004, he managed the waste disposal department. Since 2009, he joined the sustainable development team (Veolia Environnement Research and Innovation) where he's in charge of the integrative sustainable territorial approach.
Benoit Lefèvre
has a Ph.D. in economics from the École des Mines in Paris and did postdoctoral research at the Centre for Energy, Columbia University (New York). He joined the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in 2009, with responsibility for urban issues. He is particularly interested in the interactions between transportation and land use, in urban structuring processes, in energy systems, in essential urban services, in the inclusion of cities in carbon markets and the post-Kyoto negotiations, and in forward simulations. He has previously lectured in the Master of International Affairs program at the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Sciences Po Paris). He currently teaches in the Master AMUR at École Nationale des Ponts (ParisTech - ENPC).
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the IDDRI website
Christian Licoppe
is a professor of the sociology of information and communication technologies and heads the Economic and Social Sciences Department at Télécom ParisTech. He is conducting an analysis of the use of interpersonal communication technologies and comparative studies on mediated interactions. His business research looks at the work of operators in bank and telephone call centers. He is also interested in the socio-economics of remote service relationships. In addition, he is running case studies on habit-focused innovation and design.
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the Télécom Paristech website
Michel Micheau
is a graduate engineer from École Centrale de Paris, specialising in economics and statistics, has a degree in urban planning from the Institute of Political Sciences (Sciences Po), and a doctorate in spatial development from University Paris XII. He has been a lecturer and then director of the Urban Planning Curriculum at Sciences Po from 1979. He holds a professorship at Sciences Po, working on development economics, urban regeneration and the urban planning profession. Recent work in Chinese – “40 years of urban planning in France”, soon to be published – “Training urban planners. 1969-2009: history of the Urban Planning Curriculum”
For further information, please visit:
The website of the Urban Planning Curriculum at Sciences Po (in French)
Jean-Pierre Orfeuil
is a civil engineering graduate from the Paris École des mines and has a Ph.D. in statistics from University Paris VI. He has worked successively at the Paris École des mines, at the National Institute for Research on Transportation and Transportation Safety, where he heads the “Space and Mobility Economics” division, and at University Paris XII. He is currently a professor at the Paris Institute of Urban Planning, since 1998, and at the National Civil Engineering School. He has headed the City on the Move Institute’s academic chair since its creation. He has always worked on the links between mobility and energy.
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the Paris Institute of Urban Planning website (in French)
Pierre Radanne
was President of the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) up to 2003. He was also an adviser in the Kyoto negotiations. In the meantime, he joined Dominique Voynet’s team in 1997 as assistant director of his ministerial office with responsibility for spatial planning and the environment. He subsequently became an independent consultant, providing expert advice to institutions and speaking at many public meetings. He currently heads the 4D Association. Finally, he assists French-speaking African negotiators in international climate negotiations.
Françoise Sirot
– MA in private law, MBA HEC – scientific adviser to Campus Veolia Environnement, Veolia Environnement Corporate University, has spent her entire career on the emergence and development of environmental services. Having developed the sales function in the world’s first special waste treatment company in 1976, she set up the communication department in what would become Veolia Waste Management and Veolia Transport and in 1989 created the Onyx brand. In 1992, she devised Campus VE, which contributes to the creation of new professional specialities, introduced placements and approved professional experience in academic qualifications. She established long-term partnerships between the company, universities and top academic institutions. She is now involved in Campus VE’s international expansion, identifying the skills needed for the new challenges – urbanisation, climate change, resource depletion, preservation of health and biodiversity, quality-of-life – in environmental services.
Marcel Smets
has a doctorate in Applied Sciences, Architecture Department, from the University of Leuven and is a Professor of urban planning. He has been particularly active in the history and theory of urban planning: He is a founder member of the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design and a member of the scientific committee of EUROPAN. In 1989, he founded Project team Stadsontwerp, a research and project unit at Leuven University, specializing in the reclamation of abandoned dockland, railway and industrial land. He was appointed chief architect to the Flemish government in 2005, making him the chief adviser on architectural, landscape and urban quality for public programs in Flanders.
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the Leuven University website
Taoufik Souami
is a Lecturer at the French Institute of Urban Planning. With a PhD in urban planning and development, his career combines practice as an architect and urban designer, with research in urban sociology and project management. In the last 10 years or so, his work has focused on the introduction of sustainable development into urban design and construction in France and abroad. In particular, he is the coordinator of a research program on the use of urban projects in energy strategies and on the implementation of standards in environmental approaches. He is the author of: Écoquartier, secrets de fabrication [Eco-district, manufacturing secrets], recently published by Les carnets de l’info.
For further information, please visit:
His personal page on the University Paris VIII website (in French)
Pierre Veltz
is a specialist in business organization and spatial dynamics. From 1999 to the end of 2003, he headed France’s National Civil Engineering School. He also headed ParisTech, a federation of Paris’s 11 main engineering schools, and IHEDATE (Higher Research Institute on European Spatial Development) between 2004 and 2008. After heading the Capital Region Development Section within the State Capital Region Development Office, he is now ministerial delegate for the development of the Saclay cluster. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the École normale supérieure and a member of the Technology Academy. His works include: La grande transition, Seuil, 2008.
For further information, please visit:
His personal website (in French)
His personal page on the Centre de sociologie des organisations website (in French)
His personal page on the École des Ponts ParisTech website (in French)
His biography (in French)
Edwin Zaccaï
is an engineer and philosopher with a Ph.D. in environmental sciences. He is a professor at the Free University of Brussels, where he heads the Sustainable Development Study Centre (Faculty of Sciences, Institute of Environmental Management and Spatial Development), and teaches at the Institute of Political Science in Paris. His publications include: Le développement durable. Dynamique et constitution d’un projet, Peter Lang (2002), Sustainable Consumption, Ecology and Fair Trade, Routledge (2007), et La société de consommation face aux défis écologiques, La Documentation Française (2008).
For further information, please visit:
His personal website
His personal page on the Brussels Free University
