Floating City | Neuilly-sur-Marne
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Neuilly-sur-Marne Floating City Project opens access to the Canal de Chelles as a residential area, as well as a recreational and leisure area for visitors. It aspires to improve the environmental and public potential of the open space along the Canal de Chelles, while enhancing nature conservation and biodiversity of this river stretch. Furthermore, the site offers the opportunity to create a precedent for building an ‘urban water city’ and assess the performance of drought and flood proof planting and materials, such as permeable paving, which ensures that surface water percolates back in the ground.
Housing development project with a flood-risk environments – Employing water toward sustainability – Sustainable lifestyle and heightened adaptability to increased flood frequency as a result of climate change – Spatial distribution of the flood risk – Climate change implications – Risk assessment of construction methods
Water volumes in floods are large to consider storing on site. it is far more effective to allow floodwater to pass through the site in a controlled environment to avoid causing flooding upstream. Within the middle catchment of the canal, the land is less steep than upstream and the rain water catchment area is greater than what. rainwater takes longer to reach the river, but when combined with rainfall collected from across the catchment, it can result in large volumes of water that may remain on land for days. In addition, topographical level variations within the development site help to take standing water away from buildings.
Non-Defensive Flood Risk Approach
instead of keeping water out of sites or discharging it as quickly as possible, space for water can be provided within developments. This approach will create opportunity for other benefits on site, such as : play areas, space for renewable energy generation, environmental benefits, and even roads and parking. this type of multiple asset creation help to achieve the higher density development that is being advocated without losing the quality and amenity provision. it may also help to overcome the economic and social objections to implementing a zero carbon policy.
Mandate: Design competition.
