Amandine Hernandez is an architect and urban planner with over a decade of experience in Brazil and France. A key contributor to Villes Vivantes since its early days, she officially joined the founding team in 2017 to lead operations with energy and vision. Her mission: to scale up gentle densification projects by driving momentum, setting a clear direction, and cultivating a culture grounded in expertise that is both rigorous and imaginative.
Arnaud Boucheny is a French ecologist with a deep passion for nature and biodiversity conservation. Over the course of his career, he has gained diverse experience in education, environmental organizations, and the private sector — always with a focus on ecology and ecosystem preservation. In 2024, he published “Micro-aventure à la rencontre des oiseaux”, a guide featuring 17 walks across France that invite readers to explore nature through birdwatching. Today, Arnaud trains the next generation of Nature Management and Conservation technicians.
Beat Weber holds a PhD in Urban Studies from Heriot-Watt University (Scotland), a Master’s in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford (UK), and a Bachelor’s in Geography from the University of Basel (Switzerland). He is the founder and director of Development Workshop Namibia (DWN), which he launched in 2016 after contributing to several projects in Angola and Zambia. With a career dedicated to developing innovative responses to the challenges of urbanization in Southern Africa, he focuses on implementing practical, scalable solutions for affordable housing.
Charles-Antoine Depardon is a French architect and urban planner whose career is defined by a strong commitment to urban and architectural transformation. A graduate of the École Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris (2012), he continued his studies at Seika University in Kyoto and earned a specialized master’s degree in urban development and project management from École des Ponts ParisTech in 2014. He began his career with renowned firms such as Atelier Christian de Portzamparc and Ishigami + Associates, before joining Gares & Connexions, where he led major national and international projects, including the modernization of Montparnasse train station, the 'Bahrain French Town Initiative' in Manama, and early-stage studies for the Tehran high-speed rail station.
In 2018, he joined a major national real estate developer as Development Director, where he notably contributed to winning part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Village. Since 2020, Charles-Antoine has served as an advisor on urban planning and architecture to Emmanuel Grégoire, First Deputy Mayor of Paris. In this role, he played a central part in shaping land use, real estate, and regulatory urban planning policy — most notably leading the development of Paris’s new bioclimatic Local Urban Plan. He later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Lamia El Araaje, Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Architecture, and Greater Paris, and now serves as CEO of la Foncière du Logement Abordable of Paris and Saint-Ouen.
Clément Gaillard is an urban planner and designer specializing in climate-responsive design. He is the founder of Freio, a consultancy that supports professionals and local governments in bioclimatic design and the adaptation of cities and buildings to climate change. Clément holds a PhD focused on the history of bioclimatic design in architecture and urban planning. He is the author of Bioclimatique (Terre Urbaine, 2024) and served as editor of a 2023 anthology on the history of appropriate technology (T&P Editions).
David Miet is an engineer, urban planner, and holds a PhD in architecture. After a decade leading research and development initiatives at the French Ministry of Ecology, he co-founded Villes Vivantes alongside Thomas Hanss, Amandine Hernandez, Denis Caraire, and Paul Lempérière. His ambition? To make well-designed, affordable, and well-located housing accessible to all through gentle densification.
In partnership with pioneering local authorities, he and the Villes Vivantes team are developing the first prototypes of BIMBY, BAMBA, BUNTI BRAMBLE and WIMBY operations — groundbreaking approaches that use residents’ own housing projects as the raw material for creating vibrant, small-scale, community-driven urban development. These innovations offer fresh, luminous ways for people to become neighbors.
Denis Caraire is an urban planner and currently serves as President of the Professional Office for Urban Planning Certification (OPQU). For over 25 years, he has been deeply involved in public initiatives aimed at improving the private housing stock, both in France and internationally. His career has spanned roles in semi-public companies, urban planning agencies such as APUR, and leadership positions within the SOLIHA housing solidarity movement.
In 2016, he brought his expertise and energy to the founding team of Villes Vivantes. Since then, he has played a key role in aligning and preparing the technical and political teams of pioneering local authorities engaged in France’s first gentle densification projects.
Franck Durand is the National Secretary of the Union Nationale des Syndicats Français d’Architectes (UNSFA). This organization, dedicated to defending and promoting the profession of architecture in France, plays a key role in public and professional discussions surrounding architecture and urban planning. Based in the Aisne region, Franck Durant works as an architect mostly in rural areas and within a collective organized as a Cooperative and Participative Society (Scop), combining a collaborative and solidarity-based approach with his professional practice.
Jacques Lévy is a social scientist specializing in the theory of space in societies, the geography of politics, cities, and urban life, public space and urban planning, as well as Europe and globalization. His research interests also include the epistemology and methods of social sciences, cartography, modeling, and the integration of non-verbal languages. With over 850 publications and a portfolio of ten scientific films, he has made significant contributions to his field. In 2018, he was awarded the Vautrin-Lud Prize, often referred to as the 'Nobel Prize' of geography, the highest international honor in the field.
Jean Coldefy leads several think tanks on mobility and serves as an advisor to the president of Transdev. An engineer from École Centrale de Lille, he was previously Deputy Head of the Urban Mobility Department for Lyon Métropole after managing mobility and innovation activities at a consulting firm. A local elected official for twelve years, he currently chairs the Scientific Committee of France Mobilités and contributed to the drafting of the Mobility Orientation Law (LOM). He advises businesses and local authorities on mobility projects and teaches at several higher education institutions and universities. Jean Coldefy is also the author of Mobilités: Changer de modèle (Publishroom, 2022).
A graduate of the École Normale Supérieure with a degree in Geography and Urban Planning, Lily Munson worked for five years in the office of the Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning and Architecture of the City of Paris, first as a political advisor and then as director, before becoming the Secretary General of Villes Vivantes. Her work in advocating for the creation of social housing in Paris — through both property preemption in diffuse areas and large-scale real estate projects — as well as leading the revision of the bioclimatic Local Urban Plan, has deepened her commitment to exploring and experimenting with all available tools to address the housing crisis.
Luc Gnacadja is a Beninese architect and politician who served as Minister of Environment, Housing, and Urban Planning of Benin from 1999 to 2005, and as the second Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 2007 to 2013. His architectural expertise informs his approach to urban development, sustainability, and green infrastructure. Strongly committed to the future of cities as drivers of sustainable territorial transformation, particularly in the face of climate change, he was a passionate advocate for land degradation neutrality and the involvement of local populations in land and housing practices.
Lucas Pouvreau is a geographer and urban planner, and one of the first to join Villes Vivantes in 2016. An expert in public urban planning and development policies, he has assisted over forty territories in designing their development strategies. Currently the Director of Studies at Villes Vivantes, he leads large-scale analyses on land use in the context of Net Zero Land Take (ZAN) goals, as well as on new and existing housing in relation to territorial and demographic dynamics. His work focuses on linking employment and housing needs, housing supply and demand, the evolution of land and real estate markets, the potential for development of existing built environments, and the intervention models of local operators. His goal? To develop the tools that will bring housing back to the heart of the public debate with the ambition and seriousness it deserves.
Content Manager Manon Caussade is a writer working with innovative companies. After spending three years as a professional investor in startups, she chose to help them communicate more effectively. Her mission? To transcribe and share the original ideas and numerous initiatives that are shaping the cities and villages of tomorrow.
Marion Balgalier is a lawyer and mediator specializing in public law, particularly in urban planning. After being sworn in on December 18, 2013, she worked as an associate lawyer in several Parisian law firms specializing in public law, including CLL Avocats (2013-2014), Richer & Associés (2014-2017), and Frêche & Associés (2017-2021). In June 2021, she joined Paris Sud Aménagement as Operations Manager and Legal Engineering Head, applying her legal expertise to support urban development projects. At the same time, she pursued a University Diploma in Mediation at the Catholic Institute of Paris, enhancing her skills in alternative dispute resolution. In January 2025, she resumed her work as a lawyer and mediator, offering legal and mediation services to facilitate projects and resolve conflicts in the field of urban planning.
Millie Dodd is a key figure in the housing advocacy movement in the UK. She is the Marketing and Communications Manager for Just Build Homes, an organization dedicated to mobilizing support for new construction projects. Known for her involvement in the Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) movement, she works to engage younger generations and new voices in the planning and development process to address the country's housing shortage.
Maître Olivier Chambord is a lawyer, doctor in law, and a lecturer at the University of Bordeaux. His thesis, "New Urban Planning Law: A Contribution to the Study of the Relationship Between Unilateral Acts and Contracts," was awarded the Thesis Prize by the Bordeaux Bar Association. He is also the author of the book Droit de l'urbanisme et de l'aménagement - La fabrique de la ville. His expertise spans urban planning law, environmental law, public and private real estate law, and local government law. His goal is to support the satisfaction of social and societal needs by using law to enhance the effectiveness of public policies related to urban development, particularly regarding housing production, while ensuring the defense of virtuous building rights to implement the Net Zero Land Take (ZAN).
Dr. Patrick Lamson-Hall leads the Urban Expansion and the Periphery program at the Africa School of Economics in Zanzibar. He is the co-founder of Fitted Projects, a leading agency specializing in urban and economic planning. As an urban planner, he has developed planning projects and urban plans in over thirty cities across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America, including the ZEDE Morazán in Honduras. He is a research affiliate at the Marron Institute for Urban Management at New York University (NYU) and has worked closely with Cities Alliance, the Rockefeller Foundation, Bloomberg Associates, UN-Habitat, and the World Bank. A globally recognized expert on urban growth, he has developed new planning techniques for rapidly growing, low-income cities. Patrick Lamson-Hall holds a master’s degree in urban planning and a PhD in public administration from the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU.
Paul Lecat is a French historian and a lecturer in contemporary history at the University of Tours. His research focuses on the development of the peripheral areas of Paris during the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular emphasis on the role of working-class communities in the urban fabric. In 2021, he defended his thesis titled "La fabrique d’un quartier ordinaire. Le quartier de la Réunion entre Charonne et Paris des années 1830 aux années 1930" at the University Gustave Eiffel. His thesis was awarded the Prize from the Society of History and Archaeology of the 7th Arrondissement of Paris, presented by the Fondation des travaux historiques et scientifiques.. Paul Lecat has also co-authored works such as "Bescherelle - Chronologie de l’histoire de Paris", published in October 2024, which outlines the key dates in the history of the French capital.
Paul Lempérière is an architect and urban planner, and a co-founder and partner of Villes Vivantes since 2017. Over 1,000 residents have already benefited from his agile and intense coaching to think about and envision their future housing projects, and to embark on the path of making them a reality. His goal? To touch the heart of each resident, bring a multitude of projects to life, and give meaning and strength to individual projects in order to build more beautiful, more welcoming, and ultimately more sustainable cities.
Simon Ronai is a French geographer and urban planner, specializing in territorial development and urban planning. With degrees in geography and political science, he led the ORGECO consultancy, contributing to the development of Local Urban Plans (PLU), Local Housing Programs (PLH), and urban projects related to the National Agency for Urban Renewal (ANRU). An expert in metropolitan development, he worked with Antoine Grumbach on the Seine Métropole project and with David Mangin on the prefiguration of Aix-Marseille Métropole. Since 2001, he has been involved in metropolitan construction in Île-de-France alongside Pierre Mansat and local authorities in the Grand Paris. Simon Ronai also regularly publishes in the journal Hérodote, where he analyzes the issues of metropolitan governance, ecological planning, and decentralization. In 2024, he published the article "Comment les maires ont tué la Métropole du Grand Paris", highlighting the institutional fragmentation that hinders the metropolis's development. Recently, he contributed to the book "Pour en finir avec le petit Paris" (2024), in which he examines the densification of Paris and the limits of its urban expansion.
Thibault Montbazet is a French historian and holder of the agrégation in history. He teaches history at the secondary school level and specializes in 19th-century urban, political, and social history, with in-depth expertise on Paris and its development. In 2022, he published his first book, "Une année terrible: Histoire biographique du siège de Paris 1870–1871". In addition to his work on the 19th century, Thibault Montbazet co-authored "Chronographie de la Seconde Guerre mondiale" with Nicolas Guillerat, also published by Passés Composés in 2022.
Thomas Hanss was a horticulturist and then a gardener. His interest in ecology led him to become a landscape engineer and now an urban planner. He embarked on the Villes Vivantes adventure as soon as it was founded in the spring of 2013.
His goal? To enable every resident to build their home where they need it, to live where they want to live, in environment that matches their desires. How? By creating the conditions for everyone to become a co-producer of beautiful cities and villages.
VVHOMES is the platform of tools and services for private individuals developed by Villes Vivantes, a company founded in 2013 with offices in Bordeaux, Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Rennes and Strasbourg. It brings together a team of 30 experts in urban planning, architecture, landscape design, heritage conservation, real estate, land use, and construction.
Over the past 12 years, Villes Vivantes has supported more than 12,000 individuals in projects such as:
Our role? To identify the right options tailored to your financial situation, your needs, and your aspirations; to help you and your family make informed decisions; to design a custom project that reflects your vision—and to guide you every step of the way until it is built.
“Building a home is a leap of faith, often without a safety net. Most people who take on this challenge rely on their personal network—people who have been through a similar experience and can offer advice or refer them to the right professionals.
VVHOMES is the dedicated coach for those who don’t have such a network. That’s when the multitude of decisions and trade-offs become clear: What regulations apply? How do I convince my bank to approve a loan? What’s the process for getting a building permit? How do I anticipate the inevitable complications—technical, administrative, or human?
Take just one example: if I build against the boundary wall with my neighbor, could I gain a sunnier, more spacious garden? During which seasons? Is this a smart move? What are the technical implications for the foundations? Do I need permission from city hall, or from my neighbor? What does civil law say?
Our team exists to help you navigate this maze—and come out the other side with a successful project.” — Amandine Hernandez, Chief Operating Officer, Villes Vivantes
As the housing crisis deepens in France, Villes Vivantes took the step in December 2023 to create VVLOVE, its Social Impact Department. Under the leadership of Denis Caraire, this new division is dedicated to launching high-leverage initiatives aimed at improving housing conditions and supporting the accommodation of all individuals—wherever they need or wish to live.
"People who can’t find housing—where do they go? They don’t disappear. They’re pushed farther out, often much farther than where they would have liked or needed to settle. Their living conditions worsen, their commutes lengthen, and the environmental toll grows. But I also believe that the era of large-scale urban projects is behind us. We now need to invent something else—something that responds more directly to the real housing demand as expressed by the French: shouldn’t we be working to build more houses—more affordable, better located, and without further urban sprawl?" — Denis Caraire, Director of Social Impact, Villes Vivantes
VVPLACE is the Strategic Planning & Urban Studies Department of Villes Vivantes, a company founded in 2013 with offices in Bordeaux, Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Rennes, and Strasbourg. It provides tailored services to local governments and all stakeholders involved in urban renewal projects.
As France’s leading operator of gentle densification, Villes Vivantes has pioneered urban innovations—BIMBY, BUNTI, BAMBA—now implemented nationwide. These tools are rooted in a strong commitment to citizen engagement in shaping the city within the city, and together they form the foundation of what we call organic urbanism.
With a team of 30 experts in urban planning, architecture, landscape design, heritage, real estate, land development, and construction, the Strategic Planning & Urban Studies Department of Villes Vivantes has, over the past decade, supported more than 150 local authorities. Our work includes developing zoning and urban planning frameworks (PLUs and PLUis), designing housing policies, and creating public programs to support the renovation and transformation of the existing private housing stock.
Across 61 French départements, Villes Vivantes has worked alongside public institutions and their partners to:
Our mission? To help define the strategic options—land and housing policy, mobility and accessibility, planning and territorial governance—that best align with your region’s unique characteristics and the aspirations of its residents. And then, to help you take the bold decisions required to launch the transformative projects your territory truly needs.
A graduate of École Polytechnique and ENSAE, Xavier Timbeau is a French economist. He began his career at the Ministry of Industry before joining the Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques (OFCE) in 1995, where he now serves as Executive Director. He also chairs the Environment and Sustainable Development Commission of the CNIS (French National Council for Statistical Information).
Alongside his institutional responsibilities, Xavier Timbeau is actively involved in academic research and teaching.
His research covers macroeconomic analysis, economic modeling, and applied econometrics, with a specific interest in labor markets, household consumption, and housing in both France and Europe.
The OFCE, which he leads, is an independent institution dedicated to economic forecasting, public policy research, and evaluation. Hosted by the French National Foundation for Political Science (FNSP) under a 1981 agreement with the French State, the OFCE brings together more than 40 French and international researchers. Its mission is to contribute to public economic debate through the rigor of academic research and scientific independence.
The OFCE covers a wide range of economic domains, including macroeconomics, growth, welfare systems, taxation, employment policy, sustainable development, inequality, competition, innovation, and regulation. Its research is grounded in advanced econometric models—complex scientific tools continuously developed and refined—as well as household and firm-level microdata, which enable detailed analysis of inequality dynamics and business heterogeneity across the economy.
Yves Darricau is an agronomist and a graduate of AgroParisTech, the French national institute of agronomy. He has worked as an international consultant and advisor on various European and United Nations programs. A dedicated beekeeper, he has for several years pursued in-depth research—drawing from botany and landscape ecology—on how plant life adapts to changing climate conditions. He is the author of several books, including « La vigne et ses plantes compagnes » (co-authored with his daughter Léa Darricau, Éditions du Rouergue, 2019), « Des arbres pour le futur – Mémento du planteur pour 2050 » (Éditions du Rouergue, 2022), and « Planter des arbres pour les abeilles - L'apiforesterie adaptée aux espaces et aux enjeux d'aujourd'hui » (Terran Éditions, 2023).