Members

Amélie Deschamps
Associate professor in geography, researcher at the PLACES laboratory. Her research focuses on the greening of urban public space, based on a study of participatory programmes implemented by municipalities, and on sustainable development in a context of budgetary austerity.

Didier Desponds
Professor of Urban Geography and Social Geography at CY Cergy Paris Université. His work focuses on residential strategies, the processes of social specialisation of territories, urban micro-conflicts and the social effects of urban policies implemented at different levels (from local urban renewal operations to housing policies implemented by the State). He is also director of the ‘Devenirs urbains’ collection published by Editions du Manuscrit.

Jean-Baptiste Frétigny

Associate professor in geography at CY Cergy Paris Université, deputy director of the PLACES laboratory, associate researcher at UMR Géographie-cités and co-editor of the journal Métropolitiques. His research interests lie in the fields of urban studies, mobility studies and social and cultural geography. His work focuses in particular on the heterogeneity of mobility experiences, representations and policies.

Katja Hackenberg
Associate professor in human and social sciences at the IUT in Neuville-sur-Oise.

Anne Hertzog
Associate professor in geography at CY Cergy Paris Université, director of the PLACES laboratory. She works on the processes of heritage protection, the tourism-memory link and the geography of museums. Her current research explores the future of places marked by massacres and extreme violence and their contemporary heritage. She also works on so-called participatory and/or militant cultural and artistic projects, questioning their socio-spatial effects in different urban and rural contexts.

Karl Hoarau
Associate professor in geography and researcher at the PLACES laboratory. His research focuses on category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones (winds of 215 km/h or 115 knots) in the world's cyclone basins. The intensity of cyclones in the databases is re-analysed a posteriori by the author using the method of Dvorak (1984) which uses thermal infrared satellite images. The aim is to assess whether there has been a trend since the beginning of the satellite era and to determine the role of current global warming in relation to multi-year (El Niño or La Niña) or multi-decadal oscillations in the activity of the most intense cyclones.

Damien Masson
Associate professor in urban planning, deputy director of the PLACES laboratory and associate researcher at the CRESSON laboratory (UMR CNRS-MCC 1563). His research explores the sensory experiences and ambiences of urban space and ordinary mobility. In particular, he examines the sensory and ambient aspects of urban security policies. He is co-director of the ambiances international network and co-director of the Ambiances, Atmospheres and Sensory Experiences of Space series published by Routledge.

Basile Michel
Associate professor in geography, researcher at the PLACES laboratory and associate researcher at the Espaces et Sociétés laboratory (UMR CNRS 6590). His research focuses on the links between art, culture, creativity and territories. His current work focuses on ecological and social issues in the arts and culture, the relationship between cultural venues and their territories, urban change linked to cultural dynamics, and cultural and creative districts.

Akila Nedjar-Guerre
Associate professor in information and communication sciences in the MMI department of the Cergy-Pontoise IUT, researcher in the PLACES laboratory. Her work focuses on representations of the environment and sustainable development in the media, and on the networking mechanisms proposed by stakeholders as part of collaborative citizen approaches. On secondment.

Walid Rabehi
An associate professor in the PLACES laboratory and associate researcher at the IDEES-Rouen laboratory (UMR CNRS-6266), his main research themes focus firstly on the spatiotemporal trajectories of urbanisation, ranging from automatic extraction methods for land use classes to predictive modelling. It then focuses on coastal zones and their vulnerability to the effects of land artificialisation.

Samuel Rufat
University professor in geography at CY Cergy Paris Université, member of the PLACES laboratory and associate researcher at the UMR Géographie-cités. His work focuses on four main themes: social vulnerability and urban resilience, inequalities and environmental justice, post-socialist metropolises, and the spatial practices and representations of video game players. On secondment.

Carrie Ann Benjamin
Carrie is a postdoctoral researcher on the EUTOPIA fellowship programme, with a doctorate in anthropology and sociology. Her research focuses on the role of public space in relations to the city in terms of identification, difference and (dis)comfort.

Alice Golisano
Member of the PLACES laboratory and EUTOPIA-SIF postdoc researcher, in collaboration with the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Ljubljana and the European Cultural Foundation. Her project focuses on border-defying cultural enterprises and the impact of cross-border cultural events on cross-border communities between Italy and Slovenia. Her case studies include the (In)Visible Cities festival, European Capital of Culture 2025 Go! Borderless and the Liquid Becomings European Pavilion project, funded by the European Cultural Foundation. She holds a doctorate in theatre and performance studies and history from the University of Warwick and CY Cergy Paris Université, under the EUTOPIA cotutelle programme.

Clément Luccioni
ATER equivalent teacher-researcher (50%).

Alessandra Manzini
EUTOPIA SIF post-doctoral researcher at CY Cergy Paris Université (PLACES laboratory) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF, CASEs group, Barcelona) in the fields of radical geography, advanced statistical ethno-archaeology and political ecology. Through the SPIRAL project, she is conducting a cross-cultural comparative study of spiritual landscapes and forest management practices.

Natacha Rollinde
Natacha Rollinde has a doctorate in urban planning and geography, and is a contract teacher-researcher at CY Cergy Paris Université. Her research focuses on the way in which players in the urban fabric interpret, take part in or, on the contrary, resist the socio-ecological transition. After examining the role of food retailers in this process in her dissertation, Natacha Rollinde's post-doctoral work focused on city workers and residents involved in managing urban cleanliness. Her work combines the theoretical and methodological frameworks of territorial ecology, geography and urban sociology.

Léo Taillandier
Doctoral student in geography at UMR Géographie-cités, under doctoral contract at the Ecole Doctorale de Géographie de Paris, then temporary teaching and research associate at CY Cergy Paris Université. His thesis looks at cycling in the suburbs and outer suburbs of French urban areas. It aims to highlight the diversity of factors influencing cycling and associated with the heterogeneity of cycling between and within urban areas. It is based on the construction and analysis of several dozen indicators representing these influencing factors, as well as on multivariate and multilevel statistical models.

Anne-Sophie Destrumelle
Doctoral student within the EUR Humanités, Création, Patrimoine. The research project will be approached primarily from the angle of the public's perception/reception of the Saint-Denis basilica-cathedral monument; the religious/cultural relationship, and what it may mean in the Saint-Denis area, which is marked by contrasts and great cultural diversity. The project will thus seek to define the interactions between the triptych ‘monument - museum - public’ in the light of its contemporary urban and social environment, in order to characterise the form and essence of a museum project and what it means for and in the Saint-Denis basilica.

Fanny Di Tursi
Doctoral student in geography since 2018, on the subject of terrorist crisis management in cities: the contributions of geomatic tools, at CY Cergy Paris Université, after obtaining funding from the Humanities and Social Sciences doctoral school. This thesis is supervised by Alexis Sierra (Laboratoire Prodig, HDR) and Damien Masson (PLACES, MCF). The research will focus on a multidisciplinary approach, covering both theoretical and methodological aspects, including management sciences, organisational sociology, geopolitical sciences and security issues, combined with GIS and cartographic tools. This will give a new perspective to the study of crisis management in general, through spatial analysis and a critical view of our subject.

Alham Hitache
Doctoral student on a CACP-PNR Vexin Français & CY Cergy Paris Université partnership project (PLACES and ETIS laboratories) on the identification of changes in land use patterns in the Cergy-Pontoise conurbation and the Vexin Français Regional Nature Park using Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods, in particular Deep Learning.

Tristan Majou
After obtaining funding from the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB) in 2020, he is now a doctoral student in geography working on the role of urban amenities in the development of spatial justice: the cases of the metropolises of Paris and Lyon, at CY Cergy Paris Université. This research is directed by Didier Desponds (PLACES) and co-supervised by Laurent Dalmas (CEMOTEV, associate professor).  
By drawing on the rich literature on social and environmental justice issues, this research project aims to measure local inequalities in a metropolis and understand the determinants of these inequalities. In particular, the policies implemented by cities often present amenities as the preferred tool for reducing spatial inequalities. For several decades now, the metropolises of Paris and Lyon have been undergoing major urban renewal and redevelopment projects, which provide an opportunity to improve the built environment, but also to install new amenities (parks, schools, sports facilities, cinemas, etc.). The aim is therefore to understand the role of these amenities or facilities from the perspective of theories of justice. 
This spatial analysis involves the construction of local justice indicators and econometric modelling, as part of a multi-disciplinary and reproducible approach, to make it an operational tool for diagnosing inequalities for local decision-makers.

Avenir Géradine Meikengang
A contract PhD student in Geography since 2020, her work focuses on: ‘Heritage costumes in the Grassfields of Cameroon: identification, social representations and promotion strategies’, at CY Cergy Paris Université, funding obtained by the doctoral school Arts, Humanité et sciences sociales. This thesis is supervised by Elizabeth AUCLAIR (PLACES). The aim of this thesis is to take an analytical look at Cameroon's heritage costume, in order to define the elements that will enable it to be better identified and promoted in Cameroon, Africa and the rest of the world. For Avenir Géraldine Meikengang, the aim will be to engage in constructive reflection on the future of Cameroon's tangible and intangible heritage, in order to improve the way it is perceived by citizens, public authorities and the national and international scientific community.
The thesis will focus specifically on the analysis of players, audiences and local communities, modes of production and use, methods of inventorying materials and the processes of cultural and tourist development.
More generally, it will explore how the identification, documentation and promotion of heritage costumes can contribute to local cultural and economic development, poverty reduction and the improvement of living conditions for local communities.

Vinciane Mobio
Vinciane Mobio's joint international thesis with the University of Abomey-Calavi focuses on: ‘The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage to Africa: the involvement of local communities in the process of creating and modernising host museums in Benin, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire’.

Lucas Monsaingeon
Doctoral student at the EUR Humanités, Création, Patrimoine.
Architect ADE HMONP, Richard Morris Hunt Fellow 2016 associate project director of the AAPP.

Chloé Senecat
Doctoral student in geography since October 2021 after obtaining funding from the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences doctoral school. This thesis, supervised by Samuel Rufat (PLACES, HDR), is on the following topic: ‘Urban policies of the European Union: multi-level governance in Berlin, Paris and Warsaw’. The aim of this research is to understand the extent to which the urban dimension of the European Union's regional policy is leading to a simultaneous recomposition of urban spaces and a redefinition of governance methods within European cities. This will contribute to the theoretical debate on the concept of territoriality and shed light on an ongoing phenomenon: the establishment of multi-level urban governance.

Edoux Pauly Tiokou Ngassa
PhD student in geography since 2022. This thesis, supervised by Didier Desponds (thesis director) and Pierre Kamdem (thesis co-director), is entitled ‘Urban sprawl, spatial planning issues and sustainable development challenges in the Douala III and Douala V (Douala-Cameroon) boroughs’. Envisaged as a preferred tool for diagnosing and implementing sustainable development on a local scale, using the local Agenda 21 for the city of Douala as a frame of reference, this research focuses part of its thinking on presenting the state of play in terms of urban planning in the urban peripheries of the city of Douala, particularly the Douala III and V districts. Drawing on current scientific processes and interventions in the urban environment, the aim is to understand how the spatial and demographic dynamics leading to urban sprawl have had a more or less negative impact on urban structuring.
By putting forward models adapted to the notion of the sustainable city, to the principle of limited urbanisation, to urban renewal and rehabilitation, and by integrating a territorial logic, the additional vision of this investigation is to define sectoral objectives and identify specific indicators with a view to proposing in-depth responses to anticipate the current challenges of urbanisation. Controlling urban growth in order to plan the future expansion of cities effectively and sustainably is therefore a fundamental issue, not only to preserve the attractiveness of cities, but also to better scrutinise the future of undeveloped areas and guarantee sustainable urban development.

Noëly Urso-Megimbir
Doctoral student since 2022 in heritage, specializing in heritage studies on the following topic: “Processes of heritage and transformation of contemporary architecture through the prism of twentieth-century architecture and its legacy, an anthology of production in Occitania and Corsica”.
Thesis supervised by : Elizabeth Auclair (Research Director), Anne Hertzog (co-supervisor) and François Goven (co-supervisor).
As a State Urban Planning Architect and Heritage Architect, Noëly Urso-Megimbir contributes to the implementation of national public policies as part of her public service mission as Architecte des Bâtiments de France.
Her research aims to identify the architectural quality of the objects selected in the corpus, detect what makes sense, diagnose and defend their heritage value in terms of their innovation and conceptual intelligence.

Thipphaphone Xayavong
EUTOPIA PhD student in Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick and CY Cergy Paris Université. His thesis project aims to study the effects of education on health beliefs and behaviors within the primary and secondary education system in the People's Republic of Laos. In particular, it will examine in detail the political, cognitive and social aspects linking formal education to health.

Aurélien Martineau
Doctor in social geography from the University of Angers and currently a research engineer in the PLACES laboratory at CY Cergy Paris Université. Her work focuses mainly on the ECOMUSIQ action-research project, carried out in collaboration with Basile Michel, associate professor in geography, and the TREMPO cultural association based in Nantes (Pays de la Loire). The aim of this project is to study the challenges of ecological transition in the French contemporary music sector. Within this framework, he adopts a posture of support and scientific backing, bringing his expertise to the realization of the ECOMUSIQ study fields. His previous research experience has led him to become involved in a variety of themes. They have enabled him to specialize in the use of qualitative research tools and methodologies, while developing a keen interest in participatory science projects.

Elizabeth Auclair
Emeritus lecturer in town and country planning. Her work is characterized by a wide range of research topics, and focuses on three main areas: territorial cultural and heritage policies, participatory processes and project co-construction, and alternative approaches to sustainable territorial development (degrowth, the commons, etc.).

Francisco Cortezzi
Research engineer in spatial information processing, analysis and representation (GIS, Statistics, Cartography). Trained as a geographer-cartographer, he works in collaboration with the laboratory's teacher-researchers on various research themes.

Eric Enderlin
Research engineer in statistical processing and analysis. A demographer by training, he uses data from the ANR Risk-Evacuation-Resilience (RER) 2022 survey.

Sonia Lakic
Sonja Lakić is an internationally-trained architect and urban planner, as well as a researcher with a PhD in Urban Studies. Her work revolves around the everydayness of contemporary cities and architecture, with a particular interest in the anthropological and sociological aspects of architectural design and the built environment and, above all, building forms as they are experienced.

Quentin Morcrette
Quentin Morcrette has a PhD in geography from the Université Lumière Lyon 2, which he obtained in December 2018. His current research focuses on French and American cartography over the long term, allowing him to understand the changes underway with the adoption of predominantly digital representations. He is a contract teacher at CY Cergy Paris Université and a research associate at UMR 5600 (Environnement Ville Sociétés).
His skills and interests cover a wide spectrum, from cartographic expertise to tourism development and teaching.

Thomas Rosenthal
ATER equivalent teacher-researcher.

Victor Santoni
A doctorate in geography and postdoctoral researcher with ANR RER (Risque Évacuation Résilience), his work focuses on risk and crisis management. He is currently working on a multi-agent model to analyze population evacuation dynamics in the event of a major flood in the Paris region. His thesis, due in November 2021, proposes a critical quantitative approach to the use of digital social networks by territorialized crisis management systems.