Le rêve urbanistique lillois de Charles-Alexandre de Calonne

The Lille Urbanistic Dream of Charles-Alexandre de Calonne : Influence of the Belle-Islien Model and Weight of the Financial Realities. Charles- Alexandre de Calonne, « intendant » of the Three Dioceses from 1766 to 1778, was fascinated by the Belle-Islien model of urban planning in Metz. When he became Flanders « intendant » in Lille, his ambition was to promote a comparable urbanistic scheme. At first, the « intendance » building is the focus of his attention. The hardly favourable financial context forces him to find a solution that could, while limiting the tax pressure, still allow to free extra ressources. The Walloon Flanders « Etats » and Necker oppose this rather hazy design : they would prefer a less ambitious solution, in that case renting an existing building. In front of such an opposition, the need for a tax « reformation scheme » imposes itself imperatively to Calonne. It will take two years for that scheme to be implemented. Necker's departure and the end of the American War allow then the « intendant » to embark on a more ambitious urbanistic project, centered around major equipments and public monuments. To finance this costly programme that was to be developed in the Motte Madame district, Calonne essentially considers resorting to the « assennes ». The objectives of the « intendant » are indeed far from modest : this « superb project » aims at turning Lille into « one of the most beautiful towns in Europe ». Now, this urban renovation project, which the Flanders « intendant » wanted to extend to the larger towns of his « généralité », aborts : Calonne becomes, a year later, General Comptroller and it is only after 1784 that his ideas on the reorganization of the urban space are achieved, but now in Paris. The Lille example illustrates very well the method Calonne used so many times during his career : a project designed in an empirical fashion is transformed under the pressure of events into a structured plan, that remains however often uncompleted

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