Appropriations de l’espace urbain : études de pratiques citoyennes à Montréal

For several years we have been able to observe new ways of thinking and living in the city. Citizens now want to get involved in developing their city, their neighborhood, and defining their every-day-life. This change in practices and mentalities can be explained by a new « action-driven» ideology that impacts all spheres of our society. Residents try more and more to get involved through direct actions rather than adhering to an ideology. In terms of urban design, citizen involvement translates into committees, public consultations, or concrete actions, organized or not, which by their existence affect, transform, and / or improve the urban space. Indeed, citizens, by their various actions, develop new possibilities for the urban space. We must therefore take into consideration these actions, to analyze and understand them, in order to develop new perspectives for the urban planning. Citizen’s initiatives are motivated by a willingness to improve the living environment, to make it friendlier, safer and more attractive. However, it is also necessary to look beyond user experiences and take into account issues such as universal accessibility, sharing and cohabitation, and the management of the public place, in order to improve the everyday life of all the users in their diversity, and this in a sustainable way. Considering that the appropriations of the urban space by the inhabitants help improvement of the urban life and the personal development of the individual, we would like to understand how to facilitate, to regulate and to support these actions. In order to find an answer to this question, we need to examine the context in which these appropriations of the public space appear. How do they affect the urban landscape? What role do the public authorities play? Can we, and should we, encourage them? For that purpose, we first reviewed literature and media coverage about citizen’s appropriations in Montreal and in the world. Then, by referring to the studies of Jan Gehl on urban design at a “human scale” and Nicolas Soulier's concept on “living” streets, we were able to identify and catalogue the existing appropriations in the district of Villeray, in Montreal. We studied the topography of the urban space, which allowed us to understand iv the conditions that encourage or discourage appropriations of public space. Finally, we studied the urban space through the prism of Allan B. Jacobs’s criteria that define great streets. Secondly, we were interested in the regulatory framework that governs, limits or encourages these practices. By consulting the public authorities, responsible for the proper functioning of the urban space, we have been able to better understand the issues of the actions taken by the citizens. Finally, the works of Merleau-Ponty helped us to interpret our experience and the impact of these appropriations on our perception of urban space. The study confirms the growing presence of citizen’s initiatives in the urban space and raises awareness about the lack of supervision and the destitution of public authorities about these practices. The research allowed us to make some recommendations that could help facilitate, regulate and to support the citizens initiatives in urban space. Through this research we present a clarification of practices, which are sometimes unknown or underestimated, by proposing a design point of view facilitating citizen involvement.

Keyphrases: design, appropriation, Planning, Citizen initiative, Urban life, Urban space, Public space