The GRIDAUH (Research Group for the Institutions and the Law of Development, Urban Planning and Housing) is an organisation which has public recognition for its aims to foster research. It was created by ministerial decree on May 28th 1996 and the decree was then renewed on June 5th 2001. GRIDAUH goals are to develop administrative and judicial research in various fields such as land-use planning and housing.
Gridauh's organisation:
For contacting us:
1° The management team
The management team is composed of university members, engineers and young researchers who coordinate Gridauh's activities:
- Negotiation and arrangement of contract research programmes
- Organisation of seminars and conferences
- Distribution of information through Gridauh's newsletter and its website.
- Publication of Gridauh's working papers and of the urban planning and housing law yearbook
- Leadership of Gridauh's national and international network
2° Gridauh's members
The members are:
- Organisations responsible for land-use planning and housing policies: Ministère de l'Equipement (the ministry responsible for town planning), DIACT, and SCET
- Public institutions responsible for research development: , CNRS (The body nationally responsible for research), and Paris I Sorbonne University (the university where the Gridauh is established)
- Representative institutions of certain professional groups who play a part in housing and land-use planning : the OPHLM National Federation (representing public social landlords), the Chamber of Paris Notaries, the Superior Council of Notaries, and the Order of Surveyors
- The French Town Planning association, an association of researchers and practitioners.
Gridauh's members are represented on its main governing organ, the board of directors.
Functions:
1° The orientation of judicial research
Gridauh is responsible for the organisation of a network, composed of several research centres specializing in the study of land-use planning and housing. The network is also open to individual researchers. The network covers the whole country and facilitates:
- the study of a common theme on several websites (urban development, business establishments, and the efficiency of town planning law). It also establishes common analysing tools.
- the constitution of a local community observatory.
- the effective study of the evolution of the particular legislative reforms by assigning specific tasks to each centre, in particular regarding the organisation of the seminars and the yearbook.
2° To emphasise the collective and comparative dimension
Comparative study is one of Gridauh's main goals as well as one of its tools:
- It is vital to develop the knowledge of other countries' legal systems.
- An international vision allows a better understanding and analysis of our own legal system and institutions.
Ever since its creation Gridauh has facilitated exchanges:
- through an international network of scholars, which collaborates closely with the International Town Planning Association (AIDRU)
- through the legal yearbook of the DAUH which contains studies by country
- through the comparative law series contained in Gridauh's Working Papers which institutes a bilingual presentation of foreign urban planning law texts, Italy (Gridauh's Working Papers n°4, 1999), Germany (Gridauh's Working Papers n°8, 2003)
- through foreign scholars and practioners who are regularly invited to participate in Gridauh's conferences and research programmes. 3° To maintain an ongoing exchange between theory and practice
This partnership has become an institution.
The Gridauh is a public interest organisation that brings together people and organizations from different backgrounds in order to promote research in various fields such as urban and town planning, housing, and public works.
Gridauh's activities as shown through this partnership are:
-the establishment of research programmes, to take into account the needs of the urban planning decision-makers and professionals.
-ongoing seminars bring together researchers, professors, and practitioners; since 1998 one seminar series has focused on the major issues arising from the evolution of urban planning .
4° To publish and optimize research work
-Young researchers' work:
Gridauh publishes information regarding current doctorates and recently published theses.
Every year, Gridauh organizes a 'dissertation award competition' which is open to every student who has done a post-graduate diploma. Every two years a similar competition is organized in partnership with the French Association for Urban Planning and French Society of Environmental law.
The best theses and dissertations are published on the Gridauh's web site. Publications:
The Urban and Town Planning Yearbook (Moniteur edition), Gridauh's Working Papers
