«The Franco-Spanish Mediterranean Strip. An Opportunity to Turn Applied Research into Trans-Border Planning»

Abstract

This paper deals with an ongoing procedure to establish a transboundary partnership between two institutions at both sides of the Mediterranean Franco-Spanish border, between Région Occitanie (in France) and Catalonia (in Spain). It presents, on one hand, a range of methodological issues that try to link teaching, practice, and research, in order to produce applied architecture and planning according to research standards. On the other, it proposes a series of specific actions to be made, both at an institution level (such as the creation of double degrees) and from a thematic approach (such as the exploration of mid-density urban patterns). These could, by responding to the specific problems of this bi-national territory, serve as design and methodological guidelines for wider ctions, such as transboundary planning. Keywords: Trans-boundary, Pyrénnées-Mediterranée, Applied Research, Architecture, Planning