type
Masterplan and public participation
Context
Located in Jemappes (Mons), the Cité du Coq ("Estate of the Rooster") is a social housing complex surrounded by garden city residences and featuring a monument commemorating the Battle of Jemappes in 1792. The site is characterised by the iconic residential towers Flora Tristan and Elsa Triolet, both constructed in 1977, and is now undergoing a regeneration process. In order to guide the estate's redevelopment, Toi&Moi (social housing agency of the Mons region) assigned an interdisciplinary team to develop a master plan for the site.
Mission
Within the project team, CityTools is responsible for the urban sociological component, the aim of which is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the needs, opinions and realities of the local actors. This fieldwork has enabled such elements to be integrated into the reflection on the site's spatial and programmatic development.
Approach
This social component was carried out through various exchanges and close contact with locals, involving an extensive fieldwork and social investigation. These moments enabled a thorough understanding of the context, resulting in the identification of a series of issues and challenges considered as vital for the site. These were then discussed, analysed and materialised in the form of texts, photos, drawings and diagrams. In parallel to the contact with locals, the various internal workshops held within the project team enabled the findings to be shared and deliberated together, thus directly contributing to the formalisation of the site's future master plan.