A new economic and urban drive then became possible: to create a private and real estate market up to then virtually inexistent, to develop centres for services to benefit the whole of the conurbation, to extend the existing city centre by opening it out again to the docks to turn it into a real urban centre.

The Syndicat Mixte Dunkerque-Neptune bringing together the City, the Urban Community and the Port Autonome de Dunkerque was founded in 1988. The new municipal team, elected in 1989, asserted their wish not to hand over its destiny to the private sector and to take in charge a project that was to be integrated into an overall project for the whole urban conglomeration. Feasibility studies jointly carried out between a developer (Projenor) and the Urban planning Agency (AGUR) led in 1991 to the constitution of a Mixed Economy Company (Société d'Economie Mixte) S3D (Société de Developpement Du Dunkerquois) and to the launch of a consultation with urban planning architects. The objective set was to propose not a formal project but a guide, a framework and overall orientations for an urban re-conquest to be undertaken over a period of 20 to 30 years. The team of Richard Rogers who were then retained, started by drawing up a master-plan in close collaboration with all the stakeholders concerned, a master-plan that was adopted in the autumn of 1991.

The bridges destined to open up the site (Texel Bridge by Pascale Seurin, Citadelle and University bridges by Olivier Brasse) proved, right at the beginning of the Nineties, the will to assert the identity of the territory and its connection with the city centre for which the site was to become the extension.

The Citadelle bridge © Association Internationale Villes et Ports	One of the University buildings © Association Internationale Villes et Ports

The district today provides a blend between:

• Tertiary services (first office block delivered in 1996);
• Housing (first private flats delivered in 1997);
• Retail and leisure outlets (notably the "Pôle marine");
• Higher education and research: the University and university restaurant (Architecture studio), opened in 1992, and subsequently completed by: the Building of Research on the Industrial Environment of the Dunkirk area, (Rougerie & Brobacker), the Human Sciences Building (Luc Delmazure), the Building of Sciences and Technologies of Physical and Sport Activities (Bruno Roussel);
• Public services (Urban Community Centre);
• Cultural installations (notably the port museum).

But it was also in this sector that port activities were and are maintained or installed: fishing, cruise passenger terminal, yacht harbour.

The cruise passenger terminal © Association Internationale Villes et Ports

The method retained right at the start by Richard Rogers' Masterplan, the expressed desire not to freeze the project but to preserve opportunities and always leave doors open for possible evolutions, makes for one of the major – and at that time innovative – characteristics of what is called the Neptune project. It is supported by the setting up of a close partnership in the form of a "workshop" that brings together the municipal technical departments, those of the urban community, the Urban planning Agency, Projenor, the S3D, architects and designers. The fundamental role of this workshop in the appearance of a shared project culture was underlined at the end of 1999, during the first stocktaking of the Neptune Operation.
After the completion of the "Pôle Marine" in 2000 by the architects Reichen and Robert (cinemas, shops, and restaurants, leisure and cultural installations) it was the time for a stock-take and for reflection.

Fifteen years later, the centre of Dunkirk has profoundly changed, but the socio-economic context has itself also evolved. The Urban Community has got bigger, the new connections that have been established (notably the A16 motorway between Paris and Belgium) and the constant progression of the Port Autonome de Dunkerque (3rd French port, over 53 million tonnes in 2005) reposition Dunkirk on regional and international levels. The real estate market and the constant rise in prices over the last four years are tending to push part of the population out towards the suburban districts of the city.

Today at the Eastern extremity of the port wasteland, between the city centre and the seaside resort of Malo-les-Bains, the 42 hectares of the Grand Large site are giving a second wind to the Neptune Project. This site, that notably housed the former shipyards, provides an opportunity to attempt to put a stop to the risks of suburbanisation by developing an attractive district, of average density, that could receive by 2011 nearly 1000 residential accommodations.

The Grand large district: the site at present, aerial view - © Nicolas Michelin - Architecture

The ambition announced is to build "a 21 district" corresponding to the standards of sustainable development.
The Grand Large provides an opportunity to put this approach into practice:

• On the level of the urban and social blend: in the first phase of 175 lodgings, 40% are social housing and 10% destined for first buyers. From studios to 5 main roomed accommodations, the district will be able to receive both individual and collective housing. Services and equipments to comfort this blend and the mixture of generations and populations are also under study (a "District Social centre" or "Citizens' Hall" that could be installed in the former Unions Building);
• On the environmental level: measures bearing on the management of rainwater, buildings using HEQ techniques (High Environmental Quality) and favouring economies of energy (natural ventilation, reinforced insulation, etc.), priority over the automobile for the movements of pedestrians.

The concern for consultation that was at the heart of Neptune 1 still prevails. But a new method of partnership, the necessity for which was evoked as early as the 1999 stock-take, is being engaged in. This time it is a question of associating the private sector prior to the execution of the projects, right at the pre-conception stage to avoid, notably, the discrepancies between the initial and theoretical orientations of certain projects and the architectural results. This approach, novel in France, is presented as a method for transparency and co-production. In this first phase of the Grand Large project, Dunkerque Littoral (the Urban Community) has thus firstly asked a group of promoters to make proposals by evaluating at the outset the impact of land costs, the costs of construction and the profitability of the investments. The promoters selected, including the Nexity Group, are then led to work directly on the choices for the structural development. The designer is then selected by the group of promoters on the basis of specifications drawn up together with local government.

For this first phase, it is the proposals of the urban architect Nicolas Michelin for an overall master plan for the Grand Large and the outlines of the operation for the 175 lodgings that have been selected.

Master Plan of the Grand Large district - © Nicolas Michelin - Architecture

The project is organised around a wide green area that notably runs along the length of the new "Lycée des Métiers" (Crafts Lycée – 800 students, architect Luc Delemazure). Individual houses with their own gardens will be set around this green area. Along the quay, 5 and 6 storey collective apartment blocks are programmed, completed by small intermediary housing with private terraces.

Drawings of the collective and intermediary accommodation © Nicolas Michelin - Architecture	Drawings of the collective apartment blocks along the quayside © Nicolas Michelin - Architecture

The architecture and aesthetics of the buildings along the quayside indeed make reference to the architecture of Flanders, but they also have an environmental mission, the "chimney" shape playing a role of natural ventilation. Are also programmed:

• New educational establishments (kindergarten and primary school) ;
• An area, dedicated to leisure activities, will provide a new skating rink, a bowling-billiards centre, a discotheque ;
• Cultural installations: the FRAC (Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain – Regional fund of Contemporary Art) will be installed in the "cathedral", the huge emblematic building of the former shipyards;
• Modernised or newly created accesses (footbridge, new bridge).

The" Cathedral" © Association Internationale Villes et Ports

Winners of the European Grand Prix for sustainable cities in 1996, signatory of the Aalborg Charter, for the Urban Community of Dunkirk sustainable development is a conviction and an on-the-site engagement. But this can also certainly constitute an advantage, as for other cities of North Europe also: that of a strong rewarding image, of a quality of living provided for the inhabitants. The ambition for Dunkirk with the Grand Large project is to truly assert this.

Night view of the project © Nicolas Michelin - Architecture

Sources:
- Quartier d'habitat du Grand Large. Dossier de presse, 17 octobre 2005. 20 p. + photos
http://www.dunkerquegrandlittoral.org/actualite/docshtml/presse.html
Contact : Valérie Desprez, Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque : valerie.desprez@cud.fr
- Un quartier maritime et vert au grand large / LOREAL, Annick - Le Moniteur des travaux publics et du bâtiment, 11 novembre 2005, p. 36
- Après Neptune, Dunkerque vise le Grand Large / ALLAIN-DUPRE, Elisabeth - Urbanisme, N°330, mai-juin 2003, pp.22-27
- Neptune, 10 ans : projet et perspectives / AGUR - Actes du séminaire de Dunkerque, 3 décembre 1999, 63 p.
See also : http://devosfab.club.fr/index.html