A cooperative dedicated to social housing and transitional and temporary urban planning that offers affordable workspaces and emergency housing solutions in third places

Plateau Urbain is a cooperative dedicated to social housing and transitional, temporary urban planning that offers affordable workspaces and, when possible, emergency housing solutions in vibrant, creative, and community-oriented “third places” in the Île-de-France region and several major cities (Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille). It also provides consulting and support services throughout France.

This approach involves temporarily occupying vacant urban spaces to test them and explore their potential future uses. It aims to breathe new life into these places, make them more attractive, and foster citizen-led initiatives, while providing affordable office space to those who need it.

Transitional urban planning is emerging as a multifunctional tool serving various public policies, addressing specific needs:

• As part of a heritage policy, it helps with the maintenance, preservation, redevelopment, and reintroduction to the market of neglected spaces.
• In support of urban planning policies, it serves as a response to more environmentally friendly urban planning and as a means of facilitating urban transformation by previewing future projects.
• For immigration and hospitality policies, it offers a solution for providing shelter and addressing immediate needs, particularly in terms of emergency housing.
• In the context of economic policy, it serves as a short-term real estate solution, suitable for startups as well as low-profit activities of general or local interest.

In terms of community engagement, social, and cultural life, it fosters the formation of local communities centered around a project or a building, thereby creating a civic-minded approach through action.