La Charrette en urbanisme “Un air d’échangeur”
Université du Québec à Montréal

Committed to helping improve people’s living environment, health and quality of life

By organizing the Charrette en urbanisme “Un air d’échangeur” project at the beginning of 2009, university students in related programs at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) wanted to offer the Québec transport ministry different planning options for the proposed reconstruction of the Turcot interchange in Montréal. A challenge they took up with brio.

“Despite the constraints inherent to this type of activity, the committee successfully accomplished their mission in terms of the coordination, management and planning of the event. The project was a triumphant success. With its efficient and meticulous management and exemplary follow-up, the organizing committee attained its goals in every respect,” claims director of student life services at UQÀM France Turbide.

“Thanks to their talent, conscientiousness and commitment, the students brought to life a major event of a magnitude rarely seen for an urban planning charrette in Québec,” points out Sophie Paquin, urban planning and public health advisor for the Public Health Branch of the Montréal Health and Social Services Agency.

“The presence of the student organizers proved to be a decisive factor in the event’s success,” she goes on to say. “The students developed skills that they will be able to use again for other professional and community events. They extended their networks of professional and community contacts. They helped promote urban planning as a discipline that favours partnerships with other fields of study that would be beneficial to the sustainable development of our cities and mobility.”

A charrette is a 72-hour race against the clock during which teams of students work towards establishing their planning project. However, the organizing committee for the “Un air d’échangeur” charrette decided to take the endeavour one step further by combining it with theoretical activities and discussions on the concept of sustainable mobility.

For five days, students and professionals in the fields of architecture, urban planning, design, health and engineering discussed crucial issues relating to the redesigning of a freeway interchange in an urban environment, in particular in regard to the quality of life in surrounding neighbourhoods.

The event began with a preparatory colloquium that was attended by more than 200 people, followed by the actual charrette, which brought together 42 students from seven different universities. After assessing and designing their project, the students were each able to present their own development plan to some 200 students, professionals and citizens.

“It was a privileged moment that allowed everyone to share their opinions, alternative solutions and perception of urban planning, sustainable mobility and modern society,” points out the event’s coordinator Julie Lessard. For the director of the urban planning undergraduate programs in the department of urban and tourism studies at UQAM Sylvie Paré, student participation “helps fuel the current debate on health and the urban development of Montréal.” She hopes that the officials from the Québec transport ministry who took part in the charrette will take into account their observations in the reconstruction of the Turcot interchange.

La Charrette en urbanisme “Un air d’échangeur”
Université du Québec à Montréal