Member

Architect engineer and urban planner by training, I worked as an architect-urban planner in France and Greece, my country of origin, before starting a thesis at EHESS in 2017. The objective of my thesis, conducted under the supervision of Marie-Vic Ozouf-Marignier and defended in January 2023, was to question the emergence of new territorial policies in deindustrialized cities in France within the framework of sustainable city programs and participatory public policies. We can observe that in this context the new territorial policies succeed in revitalizing the economic and social tissue of these cities. The thesis developed a comparative approach of two redevelopment projects for deindustrialized sites in France, Ile-de-Nantes and the Docks-de-Seine in Saint-Ouen, focusing on the case studies of two urban projects representative of participatory public policies, both located in central districts of deindustrialized cities. The aim of the research was to propose new urban planning models for deindustrialized cities, within the framework of sustainable development, by making the connection between the urban renewal programs within these cities and the question of the preservation of their industrial heritage.

2017-2023 Thesis Territoires Migrations Développement – EHESS/Géographie-Cités, PhD in urban studies

2015 Master 2 – Urban and regional planning- Institut d’urbanisme de Paris

2014 Master 2 – Architecture- Aristotle university of Thessaloniki (Greece), School of engineering/ Department of architects engineers

Journal articles

TOURA V, 2025, “ Reshaping the Industrial Urban Landscape: An Innovative Approach or a Means To Gentrification?”,  Journal of Modern Civil Engineering, USA- Academic Star Publishing Company

TOURA V, 2024, “The preservation of industrial heritage as a form of urban resilience. The case studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine”, Philosophy Kitchen, Rivista di Filosofia contemporanea, Torino, Italy- The Preservation of Industrial Heritage as a Form of Urban Resilience. The Case Studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine | Philosophy Kitchen – Rivista di filosofia contemporanea

TOURA V, 2023, “The transformations of industrial brownfields into sustainable neighborhoods, a stepping-stone towards the sustainable city: the case studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks- de-Seine ”, The European Sociologist, no 49, 5 October 2023- https://europeansociology.org/european-sociologist/authors/varvara-toura

TOURA V, 2020, “ From urban shrinkage to participatory development processes ” , Mondes sociaux (digital magazine of human and social sciences), 17 february 2020– infos en ligne

Book Chapter

TOURA V, 2025, “PRESERVATION OF INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AND NEW APPROACHES IN URBAN PLANNING: Examples of two projects of urban renewal in France. The sustainable neighbourhoods Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine”, in Passilly J. and Morisset L.K. (dir.) INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE RELOADED/LE PATRIMOINE INDUSTRIEL RECHARGE, Patrimonium editions, Canada Research Chair in Urban Heritage, Canada, pp.423-435.

TOURA V, 2024, “The industrial remnants: memories of the past, assets for urban and territorial re-design. The case studies of Nantes and Saint-Ouen in France”, in Borlini M. M. and Califano A. (dir.) URBAN CORPORIS TO THE BONES, Anteferma editions, Conegliano, Italy, pp.131-137.

TOURA V, 2021, “Emerging socio-economic inequities during the Covid-19 pandemic. The landscapes of the Parisian suburbs ”, in Borlini M. M. and Califano A. (eds.) URBAN CORPORIS UNEXPECTED, Anteferma editions, Conegliano, Italy, pp. 223-233.

TOURA V, 2025, “ From abandonment to critical conception: post-growth policies for the resilience of deindustrialized areas. The case studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine in France ”, annual congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), July 2025, Istanbul, Turkey

TOURA V, MPANTOGIAS A, 2025, “ Public spaces as agents of inclusive and sustainable urban transformations. The case study of “Xersonisos tis Panagias” in Kavala, Greece ”, annual congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), July 2025, Istanbul, Turkey

MPANTOGIAS A,TOURA V,  2025, “ Reimagining the future of peri-urban spaces: planning narratives for the sustainability of these areas. The case study of “Stena tou Nestou” in Xanthi, Greece ”, annual congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), July 2025, Istanbul, Turkey

TOURA V, MPANTOGIAS A, 2025, “ Fostering Urban Sustainability and Resilience through the Design of Public Spaces. The Case Study of “Xersonisos tis Panagias” in Kavala, Greece”, international conference of the international research team SOCB (School of Collective Building), May 2025, Vienna, Austria

TOURA V, 2024, “ Reshaping the industrial urban landscape: an innovative approach or a means to gentrification? ”, international conference Changing cities VI, June 2024, Rhodes Island, Greece

TOURA V, 2024, “ Defining public space through the industrial remnants: the coexistence on the same urban space of conservation and sustainability ”, international conference Past Present and Future of Public Space, June 2024, Bologna, Italy (online presentation).

TOURA V, 2022, “ Preservation of industrial heritage and new approaches in urban planning. Examples of two urban renewal projects in France : the sustainable neighborhoods Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine ”, conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) initially scheduled for September 2021 and postponed to September 2022, Montreal.

TOURA V, 2022, “Is there a good scale of intervention for the “ephemeral projects”? Crossed views on the “spatial ephemeral” in public spaces’ development projects  in the north and south of Europe”, international conference of the International Geographical Union (IGU), July 2022, Paris.

TOURA V, 2022, “Challenges and opportunities in the preservation of industrial cultural heritage after the deindustrialization era. The reintegration in the urban tissue of two former industrial sites in France: Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine”, international conference Heritage for the future, science for heritage organized by la Fondation des sciences du patrimoine, March 2022, Paris.

TOURA V, 2021, “ Rethinking the cities’ transformations after  urban pandemics in previous centuries. A possible link with the post-Covid-19 era?  ”, congress of the European Sociological Association (ESA), September 2021, Barcelona (online event).

TOURA V, 2021, “ Rethinking creativity at neighborhood level in the post-industrial era. The case studies of two urban voids redevelopments in France : Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine ”, international conference Grand Projects organized by Iscte/Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, February 2021, Lisbon (online event).

TOURA V, 2019, “ Deindustrialization and urban shrinkage. Achieving urban sustainability in former industrial cities in France : the case studies of Nantes and Saint-Ouen ”, annual congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), July 2019, Venice.

TOURA V, 2019, “ The French sustainable neighborhoods as city transformers ”, international conference Public Space+ organized by the Greek engineers association (TEE), March 2019, Thessaloniki.

TOURA V, 2020, “ From industrial city to sustainable city : the transformation of former industrial sites into sustainable neighborhoods. The case studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine ”, poster presented during the CILAC young researcher award, January 24, 2020, Paris.

TOURA V, 2019, “ From urban shrinkage to participatory planning processes. The case studies of two urban renewal projects in France : Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine in Saint-Ouen ”, annual conference of the Association for Regional Science in French Language for doctoral research (Doctorales ASRDLF), February 2019, Grenoble.

TOURA V, 2018, “Deindustrialization and urban shrinkage. The interdependence of inter-municipal public policies and the local challenges in two urban renewal projects in France : Ile-de-Nantes and the Docks-de-Seine in Saint-Ouen ”, annual conference of the Association for Regional Science in French Language (ASRDLF), July 2018, Caen.

TOURA V, 2023, “The reconversion of abandoned industrial infrastructures as a reinvestment mechanism for “waste””, workshop entitled Les déchets et leurs usages: transformations métaboliques, sociétés et environnements, organized by Labex DynaMite and Centre d’histoire sociale, June 19, 2023, Campus Condorcet, Aubervilliers

TOURA V, 2023, “Challenges and opportunities in the transformation of urban voids”, workshop entitled Droits à la ville, organized by the French association COOP’ESKEMM and les Éditions du Commun, May 13, 2023, Rennes

TOURA V, 2022, “Challenges and opportunities in the preservation of industrial heritage after deindustrialization. Comparison of the process of redevelopment of two former industrial sites: Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine”, PhD workshop of EHGO, January 27-28, 2022, Fontainebleau

TOURA V, 2019, “ From  industrial city to sustainable city: transformations of former industrial wastelands into eco-neighborhoods. The case studies of Ile-de-Nantes and Docks-de-Seine ”, seminar of EHESS Territory and History of Geography, February 11, 2019

Marie-Vic Ozouf, Varvara Toura, Karl Berthelot, 2017,  “The policy of eco-neighbourhoods: general aspects and study of examples”, seminar of EHESS Territory and territorial public action, December 14, 2017

2020 Young researcher award from the Franco-Swedish Research Association (AFSR) in the category of doctoral students

2020 Finalist for the CILAC young researcher award in industrial heritage

2019 Winner of a grant from the Caisse des Dépôts Institute for Research

Professional experience

Academic year 2023-2024 Adjunct lecturer in urban and landscape design, School of engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, Department of architectural engineering

Reviewer for the international journals Urban planning, Journal of Modern Civil Engineering

Co- Chair of a Track and reviewer of submitted papers in AESOP 2025 Congress in Istanbul, Turkey (Track 9 Urban Futures)

Prizes in architecture-urban planning

Panhellenic competition in urban and landscape design, 2025, Redesign of the waterfront of the city of Corinth in Greece (Distinction), Participants: Aimilia Karapostoli, Varvara Toura, Dimitris Giouzepas, Alexandros Mpantogias, Athina Papaioannou, Myrto Pediotaki, Maria Ploussou

Panhellenic competition in urban and landscape design, 2025, Redesign of the public space in front of the building of TEE (Technical Chamber of Greece) in Komotini, Greece (2nd Prize), Participants: Varvara Toura, Alexandros Mpantogias,  Neslihan Saban