Member

Charlotte Berthier is a geographer and urban planner. She graduated from the Urban School of Sciences Po Paris, and the Master’s program in Digital Humanities at the École Nationale des Chartes. After her initial research on modeling spaces of industrial pollution in the Île-de-France region, she is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Sabine Barles.

Toxic Legacies: Industrial Soil Pollution in Paris and the Île-de-France region. Perspectives on the Life Cycles of Urban Land in the Era of Ecological Transition

Industrial soil pollution has a history and a geography. It is a byproduct of industrialization, shaped by the social and spatial organization of production in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Since 2023, activist and media attention has highlighted the scale of PFAS pollution—commonly referred to as “forever chemicals”—marking a new stage in public awareness of widespread soil contamination. Diffuse and now permanent, generalized environmental pollution defines the Anthropocene and reflects the evolving relationship between human societies and their environment.

This raises key questions from a geographical perspective: How can soil pollution be studied? Where are the polluted areas located, and how can they be modeled?

Through the study of industrial soil pollution, this research explores the life cycles of industrial and post-industrial territories from the standpoint of spatial planning. It aims to elucidate the impacts of polluted industrial legacies on territorial development in Paris and the Île-de-France region. This involves quantifying soil pollution and analyzing urban policies aimed at regulating pollution and managing soil life cycles.

In the context of urban renaturation and land recycling to achieve the “Zero Net Land Artificialization” (ZAN) objectives established by the Climate and Resilience Law of 2021, how is urban planning evolving to address the challenges of soil pollution in available or built-up spaces?

2024 – , Doctorat en Aménagement, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

« Héritages toxiques, la pollution industrielle des sols à Paris et en Île-de-France. Perpectives sur les cycles de vie du foncier urbain à l’ère de la transition écologique », sous la direction de Sabine Barles

2024, Master 2 Humanités Numériques, Ecole Nationale des Chartes

Mémoire de recherche : « Héritages toxiques. Modéliser les espaces de la pollution des sols en Île-de-France », sous la direction de Carmen Brando et de Nicolas Verdier

2016 – 2018, Master 2 « Governing the Large Metropolis », Sciences Po Paris

Mémoire de recherche : « Mapping the Invisible, The Digitalization of Informal Transport Systems and the Mutation of Transportation Governance, A comparative study of Nairobi and Accra », sous la direction d’Antoine Courmont

2013 – 2016, Classe préparatoire littéraire, Lycée Henri IV, Paris

2021 – 2023, Responsable d’études, Keolis Île-de-France

2019 – 2021, Consultante mobilités et innovation, Kisio Etudes et Conseil

2018, Chargée de mission Knowledge Management, Keolis SA