BAou de sormiou - Marseille

Urban–Nature Interface – Calanques National Park

This study focuses on the transition spaces between the city and the hillside, at the direct interface with Calanques National Park. It is part of a partnership approach involving the City of Marseille, Marseille Rénovation Urbaine and the Aix–Marseille–Provence Metropolitan Authority, within the framework of the major redevelopment of the La Cayolle and Baou de Sormiou neighbourhoods. Located in the south-east of Marseille, this urban edge is undergoing profound transformation through to 2025, marked by the reconstruction of much of the residential fabric and the introduction of new facilities and infrastructures: the Calanques Promenade, a soft-mobility route linking the Prado beaches to the foot of the Calanques massif, a new community centre, a mosque and renewed public spaces.

The core objective of the study is to establish a clear and legible boundary between the city and the national park, while recognising the thickness of this edge as a lived and accessible interface. The challenge is both to protect the park’s remarkable natural environments and to organise controlled access to the hillside, while revealing the specific landscape and ecological qualities of this terrestrial edge of the park.

The project highlights the depth of this boundary through the transformation and reinterpretation of an urban brownfield site, conceived as a transitional space. Carefully designed access points structure the passage between the inhabited city and the protected natural area, establishing a firm yet welcoming threshold. Targeted interventions reveal emblematic sites and the memory of the neighbourhood.

Finally, the study defines a management plan for the natural areas based on an economy of means, the preservation of habitat diversity, wildfire risk prevention and the enhancement of the Calanques’ distinctive landscapes.

Maîtrise d’ouvrage : Parc National des Calanques

Groupement : Wagon Landscaping (mandataire), Stéphane Malek (sociologie urbaine

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