Resilient Urban Planning to Enhance the Architectural, Urban and Landscape Identity of the City: The Example of Dunkirk

Faced with decline and pollution, the Port-City of Dunkirk responded at the end of the twentieth century to a very degraded collective imagination. In the century of sustainable development, the Urban Community of Dunkirk (CUD) has proved to be a forerunner. Urban policies aimed at improving the quality of life of inhabitants and increasing the city’s attractiveness have been put in place, and the objective of transforming the city is set out in the Local Urban Plan (PLU), which deals today jointly with issues of urban planning, housing, transport and heritage. After contextualizing the research regarding urban and environmental challenges and identifying the resources of the territory, spatial-configuration tools are adopted to model a projected image of the urban core considering the urban planning strategies undertaken. The impact of recent development projects is examined in terms of (i) the creation or reinforcement of urban identities, (ii) mobility and sociability hubs, and (iii) landscape and water. Finally, an evaluation of the influence of the projects on the representations of different districts will enable us to identify their shortcomings and merits. The choices made in Dunkirk to cope with the disruptions of the twentieth century, and a fragile environment define the basis of resilient urban planning that mitigates past, present and future shocks and tensions, and whose assets are not just ecological. Projects tend to compensate for urban fractures and enhance architectural, urban and landscape heritage. The promotion of an urban narrative aims to overcome the stigma and transition towards a post-industrial coastal city to encourage new practices and mental representations. The city of Dunkirk plays a central role in the cohesion and adaptation of a Port-Beach-City territory. These three components coexist and interact in the reclaiming of the waterfront.