Urban masterplan of a new district · Saint-Paul, La Réunion
A district laid out around its ravines, between the city and the savanna.
The masterplan of a 90 ha district on the mid-slopes of Saint-Paul, designed as a “lived-in park”: about 2,000 homes, schools, local shops and services arranged around the ravines and a protected green network, at the edge of the Cap la Houssaye savanna.
Key facts
Client
SEDRE, for the commune of Saint-Paul
Team
Signes Paysages (lead), Emmanuel Pouille (urban planner), Artelia and SOCETEM (engineering), Biotope (ecology), CP&O (programming), CODEFIMA (legal support), Signes Archi (partner of Signes Paysages)
Site
Plateau Caillou, Saint-Paul
Area
About 90 ha, of which about 30 ha of natural areas kept
Homes
About 2,000, half subsidised and half market-rate
Mission
2011 to 2020
Status
Under construction (phase 1)
The site
The district occupies the mid-slopes of Saint-Paul, on the north side of the Cap la Houssaye savanna, above the historic lower town and the Route des Tamarins. Its slopes are cut by ravines and rocky spurs that carry the rain down to the sea, and the design is drawn from them.
The challenge
Complete the urban mid-slopes of Saint-Paul with a new centre that gives residents homes, services and jobs, and makes a gentle transition between the built city and the preserved savanna.
The programme
The client asked for a balanced district, in line with the regional plan:
- About 2,000 homes at a minimum of 50 homes per hectare, with a mix of private, intermediate and social housing
- A central district with a school group, nursery, children’s house, care home, transport hub and local shops
- Business and office areas close to the Route des Tamarins, so that homes and jobs stay close
- A central axis carrying a dedicated public transport line, and a network of footpaths and cycle routes
- A green network following the ravines, with natural areas kept
- Planted swales along the roads and infiltration basins at the low points for stormwater
- An environmental approach to urbanism (AEU) covering mobility, waste, noise, energy, water, landscape and biodiversity
Mission of the team
Urban project management for the design of the district, won through a competition:
- The development scheme of the ZAC, in four sectors: the inhabited slopes, the urban heart, the plateau and the belvedere
- The functions, densities and building types of each sector
- The planning principles, and the study of how the district fits its territory, its urban surroundings and its landscape
- Preliminary design (avant-projet) and the 3D simulation of the urban composition
- Regulatory support: update of the ZAC realisation file in 2018 (masterplan, aerial views, 3D model), and input to the 2019 PLU update (to confirm)
Timeline
2011 studies start · 2014 ZAC creation file validated · 2016 preliminary design and first realisation file · 2018 realisation file update · 2019 PLU update (to confirm) · 2020 end of the mission · 2024 phase 1 works begin · 2035 planned completion
The project today
- Phase 1, the district entrance and urban core, started in June 2024 and runs to 2027
- Phase 2, the plateau, runs from 2028 to 2031, and phase 3, the inhabited slopes, starts in 2032
- Delivery of the 2,000 homes is planned for 2035
- The large shopping centre in the first scheme was dropped in 2021 in favour of local shops
- The adjacent 207 ha savanna is protected by the Conservatoire du littoral
Scope and themes: Strategy, studies and planning · GIS and territorial analysis · Design · Permits and approvals · Nature-based solutions · Ecology and biodiversity