Regardless of the period under consideration – protohistory, the Middle Ages or the contemporary era – the relationship to time of the actors involved strongly influences the production of forms. Urban development is a process that brings together projects that are generally disjointed (they do not involve the same actors at the same time, and each has its own purpose), but which reactivate or modify inherited spatial structures. In order to produce a meaningful urban space, it is beneficial to follow, over the long term, the transmission of urban forms through the constant transformation of their uses.

Hélène Noizet, professor of medieval history at Paris 8 University, works on urban morphology over the long term, first on the city of Tours, then on Paris and Saint-Denis. She studies the question of urban fabric by cross-referencing texts, archaeological excavations and plans: the formation of the urban fabric is analysed as a process that constantly re-engages inherited spaces, in permanent interaction with the projects and practices of the actors involved. To this end, she coordinates the Alpage project, which is building geohistorical reference data on medieval and modern Paris.

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