St-Etienne Creative Valley
& its productive ecosystem
Saint-Étienne - FR
AMITER idea competition : Better planning for risks sensitive territories
Client
Ministery of Ecological transition
CEREMA
PUCA
Team
Léa Soret
Robert Younger
Award
Awarded 1st place / Projet lauréat
Budget
16.000€
The valley becomes the driving landscape of the transformation of Saint-Étienne towards a Creative Valley. This vision utilizes this landscape as an intervention territory, water through the flood risk, and Design, the guiding thread of the city’s narrative. It is used as a transformation lever through its economic, creative, and productive force. This approach defines the Valbenoite and la Rivière districts as pilot projects towards a productive, resilient, active, and attractive ecosystem.
The latter focuses on 4 strategies: a resilience strategy that guides the Furan and rainwater safely away from the neighborhood, a landscape strategy that uses the Furan valley as an activating column of life and attractiveness for the neighborhood, a mobility strategy focused on multiplied accessibility of soft modes of transportation, and finally, a flexible urban strategy that generates an economic, educational, intellectual, and supportive fabric.
In the Valbenoite and la Rivière districts, the Furan valley characterizes the neighborhood and its spaces, between nature and urbanity, drawing new intensities from the site towards the grand landscape of Pilat and the city center. This new Furan landscape crosses and activates the site in 4 sequences, between heritage, craftsmanship, industry, and creation towards a peaceful, industrious, active neighborhood, anchored in its geography.