Feeding the City

In an urban context in decline and facing a certain precariousness, the project aims to recreate a link between the inhabitants and their territory by bringing dynamism and employment. An enhancement of its heritage as well as a landscape intervention around the city of Douai and its canal is set up. The city then becomes more attractive.

This work develops a local food system, based on the presence of water, which creates the link between the city and its territory. The principle developed here is "from the field to the plate". Market gardening areas are created through hortillonnages. These take over many uncultivated areas on the outskirts of Douai. They create an environment and a unique setting that will benefit the inhabitants and tourists. The crops are partly transported to the city centre, in transitory places to be distributed to shops, school restaurants, restaurants, markets, etc. In the heart of Douai, many buildings located in direct proximity to the Scarpe are unoccupied and create a break between the city and its canal. Returning them to a public and useful function for the city is therefore essential in order to revitalise these places. Here, the focus was on the « Place du Marché aux Poissons » and the row of houses that separates it from the Scarpe. This place, listed as a Historic Monument, use to be very active and attractive, and is now used as a car park. The programme developed here aims to create a place for inhabitants and visitors, where products are sold, processed, cooked and tasted. The emphasis on the educational aspect of the approach is carried out by setting up spaces for sharing information, holding meetings, seminars or cooking workshops to discover the products. The project aims to give back its value to a place full of history by working on the existing spaces from the territorial to the city scale, in order to constitute a better living environment.