A Landscape Approach: From Local Communities to Territorial Systems

In this chapter, published in A Landscape Approach: From Local Communities to Territorial Systems, I examine how traditional, monument-centered approaches to urban heritage must evolve toward a broader, landscape- based model grounded in sustainability. Developed through work experience in development planning approvals at the City of Toulouse, my work critiques the limits of built heritage conservation alone, and instead advocates for integrating ecological systems — river corridors, parks, watersheds — as essential frameworks for cultural resilience. Using Toulouse’s Ville Rose, Ville Verte plan as a case study, I explore how the future of historic cities depends on reconnecting urban form to environmental and social systems.