Sustainable cities in tropical climates: Presentation of the "Beauséjour" case study in Reunion Island

Abstract

Reunion Island is a small French island located in the Indian Ocean, 900km off the East coast of Madagascar in the Southern hemisphere. The population is 800,000 inhabitants and will rise to one million in 20 years. The total area of the island is 2,500 km2 with only 313 km2 available for urbanization. The climate is tropical with a summer season and a mild winter season. Only a few sustainable cities' projects in tropical areas have been listed so far. The purpose of this study is thus to present the - in progress - Beauséjour sustainable town project. The plan is to build a new town in a 0.8 km2 area in the North of Reunion Island, with 2,300 residential units. The whole town is being built by a local private CBo Territoria whose business model allows an original planning and management of sustainable cities. The study mainly deals with the aspects of planning and managing the sustainable town. It both retraces the regional rules context that lead to the project and how the town is being planned and managed; this includes the iterative reflection between the developer-contractor, real-estate developers (housing and services sector) and assets and properties management. One of the original aspects in the methodology is how the management of the city is questioned regarding the project itself. The expected results covert the three pillars of the sustainable development. The main objective is the creation of a living town center, where the all the five functions will "collide". This led us to the social diversity and the transportation aspects where the project is acting as an innovative catalyzer and lastly the environmental part with green design building and multiple green spaces. © 2013 WIT Press.