Saint-Omer

Five sites in the urban area, which sits at the interface between the urban core and the Audomarois marshland, have been selected to recreate productive interfaces between town and water.
This project views the territory of the Audomarois as an urban bioregion, i.e., a geographical space that includes inhabited environments rather than an administrative or political unit. This analytical scale, combined with scenarios laid out by the IPCC, highlights the territory’s high exposure to the risk of marine submersion: although located 30 km from the coast, it is hydraulically linked to the coastline and directly subject to variations there.
This project proposes implementing two systems of “hydro-productive” parks.#cut
Along the canal, the Parc du Marais will be home to a series of flood expansion zones. This evolving landscape allows for future flooding but also for urban development guided by the principle of soil transparency.
The Parc du Coteau extends around the Boulevard Vauban, transforming the old city wall into a productive boulevard. It reconnects previously isolated districts, reveals the hydraulic and historical remains of the fortifications, and uses geothermal energy as a tool for urban renewal.
These “capable landscapes” are structures for densification that compensate for urban sprawl and help to manage hydraulic risks.