One of the main objectives of urban planning today is to overcome the negative externalities of land-use planning in the second half of the 20th century, particularly in peri-urban areas: unsustainable urbanisation and lifestyles leading to fragmentation, impoverishment and destruction of habitats, loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems, with significant consequences for cities and communities. The conference will focus on the architectural and urban projects for the Paris Olympic Games (2024) and will discuss how the city and region are developing new skills in terms of sustainable development, integrating slow and active mobilities linked to new centralities, regenerating rail networks and revitalising housing models in connection with green and blue networks. The main challenge for planning policies is to overcome negative externalities by drawing on the organisation of major events such as the Olympic Games, which act as catalysts for new collective ways of building and using space.

In 2023, the Green Transformation (GX) has recently became the predominant notion discussed in the urban policy and planning focus in in Japan, which aims for a low-carbon urban transformation. Based on the Law on Special Measures for Urban Regeneration enacted in 2004, various urban planning efforts are being promoted, including urban regeneration and the promotion of compact cities. In this lecture, I will discuss urban regeneration through greenery, including case studies of a large city, a suburban city, and a small town.

In addition, the recent promotion of greening in urban centers as well as the increasing pressure to develop green spaces in suburban areas will be discussed.