De la lutte contre l’étalement urbain à la protection qualitative des sols The fight against urban sprawl to protecting soil quality

Abstract

In France, the Climate and Resilience Law of 22 August 2021 limits the consumption of agricultural, natural and forest areas through the Zero Net Artificialisation target, which requires urban planning documents to ensure that there is no artificialisation of land by 2050: any artificialisation must be offset by the renaturation of an equivalent area. It also introduces the ecological functions of soil into the legal definition of artificialisation and imposes a coefficient of non-impermeable or eco-friendly areas for construction projects. While these developments are in line with the integration of sustainable development into French urban planning law and the draft European directive of 5 July 2023, which sets the objective of ensuring that all European soils are in good health by 2050, they remain insufficient. A limitation on land artificialisation is prescribed, as provided for in the draft directive, by imposing quantitative soil protection, but the tools provided remain largely insufficient, particularly at the national level in terms of soil health assessment and sustainable soil management.