Reinventing a River-Centred Urban Core
At the confluence of the Lergue and the Soulondres, Lodève grew alongside its rivers. They powered the town’s textile industry, shaped its landscape and structured its urban development. Over time, however, the rivers became physical boundaries, while the historic centre gradually lost vitality and social, heritage and climate-related challenges accumulated.
The project proposes to reposition the rivers as the town’s new urban core. Their banks reconnect the historic centre, the priority neighbourhood, former industrial sites and the surrounding landscapes. They become the framework for public spaces, mobility, climate adaptation and everyday life, restoring a direct relationship between residents and the water.
This strategy emerged through an immersive understanding of the place. Site walks, participatory workshops, exploratory walks and collaborative mapping revealed an often-overlooked geography and helped build a shared reading of the territory. Public participation did not simply validate the project; it actively shaped it.
By progressively widening the focus from the riverbanks to the entire valley, the project offers a new interpretation of Lodève. The rivers once again become ecological and social infrastructures; former textile factories become opportunities for new uses; and the town’s industrial and landscape heritage becomes a resource for the transformation of its historic centre.
More than a public realm project, this approach defines a long-term transformation strategy in which landscape, heritage, citizen participation and climate adaptation work together to rebuild a vibrant urban core.
- Quartiers de Demain
- New urban core
- Lergue & Soulondres
- Citizen participation
- Landscape Urbanism
