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11 November
	AMO to propose new vision for Côte d’Azur region

By OMA © All rights reserved

Rotterdam, 11 November 2009 – AMO, the research and design studio of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, has been selected by the local government of Nice Côte d’Azur to generate a new vision for the region of Plaine du Var. Plaine du Var, a valley leading to the Mediterranean that was granted OIN (National Interest Operation) status in 2008, is one of the last remaining stretches of land available for growth in the increasingly saturated Côte d'Azur. The region might also hold the last opportunity for Nice and its surrounding area to take a stand on how to plan for the future. A 142 percent growth in the urban footprint of the Côte d'Azur since 1970 together with a corresponding growth in population of only 52 percent equals one thing: sprawl. During an intense period of research culminating in April 2010, AMO will develop a long term strategy that reconciles the region's need for sustainable land use and economic growth. The brief calls for a plan that would allow Nice Côte d'Azur to regain a strong position on the world's map. As new tourist destinations emerge globally, Nice and the Côte d'Azur find themselves fighting what seems like a losing battle. Development has been based for too long on a 'residential' economy reliant on ever-increasing amounts of housing both for tourists and the large population of retirees. Demographic and economic pressures have been the result. The challenge is for Nice and Plaine du Var to be economically competitive on the international scene, attract new businesses and offer the youth enough reasons to keep them from fleeing the area. How do you reverse a spatial and economic system that has consumed most of the land available, learn from its flaws, and find new modes of development that won't compromise the potential of the region? And how do you do all this in a way that will lead to sustainable rather than destructive growth? AMO's research is led by Rem Koolhaas together with partner Reinier De Graaf and Clément Blanchet, associate in charge of OMA*AMO's French projects. AMO is working in collaboration with the sustainability experts Werner Sobek, Ton Matton, program adviser and sustainable city expert SETEC Partenaire Developpement, overall coordinator CVA, economists BIPE, with Laurent Davezies, and tourism researchers PLANETH.