Bordeaux (France) Bioclimatic SCoT Regional Planning Scheme: harmony with nature

Summary

On 11 December 2025, the public authority responsible for strategic planning across the greater Bordeaux metropolitan area, approved the Schéma de Cohérence Territoriale Bioclimatique de l’aire métropolitaine bordelaise (Bordeaux Bioclimatic SCoT) through Resolution No. 11/12/25/01.

The SCoT establishes the region’s long-term planning and urban development framework through 2040, with a focus on climate resilience, carbon neutrality, and ecological restoration. It was developed over three years in consultation with elected officials, institutional partners, and local stakeholders.

The adopted resolution states that “Amidst climate change and intensifying risks, the development model must adapt to the growing scarcity of resources essential to human life.” This requires “planning and implementing a tailored development model that takes into account the territory’s needs (housing, economy, agriculture, facilities, infrastructure, energy, etc.)” while “preserving and enhancing the role of natural areas” and “restoring ecological corridors within urban areas.” (p. 4–6, machine translated)

Policy Framework
The SCoT consists of two principal documents: the Strategic Planning Project (PAS) and the Guidance and Objectives Document (D20). The PAS sets out the strategic vision for the Bordeaux metropolitan area through 2040, while the D20 translates that vision into concrete planning requirements. The D20 constitutes the regulatory component of the SCoT and establishes strategic guidelines for spatial planning that local urban planning documents must be compatible with.

The policy is structured around 4 main ambitions:
1. Bioclimatic Bordeaux Metropolitan Area: a territory in harmony with nature
2. Resource-Efficient Bordeaux Metropolitan Area: a territory of resources
3. Dynamic Bordeaux Metropolitan Area: a thriving territory
4. Sustainable and Balanced Bordeaux Metropolitan Area: a great place to live

Ambition 1. A Territory in Harmony with Nature (machine translated)
This ambition is organized around four priorities: A. Renewing the connection to nature, water, and landscapes through the development of a natural bioclimatic framework; B. Preserving agricultural, natural, and forest landscapes and restoring their functionality; C. Adapting land-use planning to climate change; D. Strengthening the bioclimatic framework through rewilding.

Beyond preserving the living environment, the aim is to make nature the connecting thread—the unifying, rallying, and integrating concept—for the metropolitan area. The goal is to recognize the intrinsic connection between the residents of the metropolitan area and nature, and to seek a harmonious coexistence between humans and the natural environment. (D20, p. 7)

A. Natural Bioclimatic Framework
This priority forms a cornerstone of the SCoT. It recognizes that climate change-related threats require the development of bioclimatic infrastructure for the region, and it seeks to strengthen the role of nature in urban design and development and make it a foundational value of the metropolitan area. (D20, p. 8)

Its measures include preserving landscape diversity and limiting urban sprawl and fragmentation; creating a natural urban cooling system through “cool corridors”; placing water and aquatic environments at the heart of spatial planning; and establishing green, blue, and brown networks as a multifunctional ecological system.

The framework emphasizes the territory’s waterways, stating that “restoration and conservation efforts must be carried out in a way that recognizes the interdependence of all species: humans, animals, and plants.” (D20, p. 24)

Placing water at the heart of spatial planning and understanding the complex relationships between environments across multiple scales…guides a planning approach that respects ecological, hydrological, and climatic functions, while taking into account the biological requirements of each ecosystem and natural entity. This strategy reflects the interdependence between humans and the hydrosystems that sustain life and health. Serving as a foundation for biodiversity, movement, and exchange, as well as a vehicle for cultural, landscape, and heritage values, this natural framework forms the basis of a strategy centered on living systems across the entire territory. (D20, p. 23)

It identifies recognizing the central role of the Gironde estuary and river system (the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers) as a first step in this approach. (D20, p. 24).

Additional Climate and Sustainability Provisions
The SCoT also sets out a strategy to achieve Zero Net Artificialization (ZAN) across the Bordeaux metropolitan area by 2050. This includes preserving and restoring natural areas within urban boundaries while concentrating development in already built-up areas. As an interim target, it calls for a 55% reduction in the consumption of natural, agricultural, and forest land by 2031 compared with the previous decade. (Resolution No. 11/12/25/01; p. 4–5)

The SCoT also addresses:
• current and future water needs;
• energy conservation and the energy transition;
• fertile soils and subsoil resources;
• the circular economy;
• air pollution;
• greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration.

Implementation
Within six years of the SCoT’s approval, Sysdau must evaluate its implementation, including its effects on the environment, transportation, land consumption, the rate of land artificialization, and commercial development. Based on this evaluation, Sysdau may decide to maintain the SCoT or initiate a formal revision.