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SummaryThe worlds of design, management and development have not remained immune to the increasing digitalization of our environments, specifically of the urban ones. Big data, Smart City, augmented reality games, widespread use of BIM ... : how has the use of digital technology changed definite practices as much as the very way of designing space, producing knowledge by and for the project ?1. This issue aims at examining sets of themes as varied as the optimization and performance of the architectural object, the instrumentation of the design processes, the digital materialization and manufacturing modes of the architectural and urban project, or even the urban governance. Three main lines of thought give structure to this call for papers : the transformation of thought and of the act of designing, on the one hand, and its impact on work organization and on the evolution of professions in terms of cross-professionality, new constraints and rising gamification of urban planning, on the other hand ; and finally the role played by digital technology in the mediation and governance of the urban project. Is it creative autonomy, personal relationship to the work that would be at stake for architects ? Or is it, for all the actors still fragmented in project management, the ability to take up the challenge of thinking about the integrated production chain of more or less complex objects caught in interrelations that are themselves complex ? Can we imagine combining City Information Modeling (CIM) technologies with Civic Techs to regenerate participatory democracy and work towards the development of technological innovations that can bring out communities of committed citizens, guide or stimulate the co-construction of architectural and urban projects and of public policies renewed by new mechanisms ?Call for papersBeyond skill acquisition and action structuring, digital technologies contribute to redefining the modes of relations between human and non-human actors (Callon, 2004) “… being not considered as simple instruments mobilized by humans to achieve their ends but as actors fully participating in cognition, skill acquisition or decision-making” (Tribout, Margier, 2019, p. 7). Isn’t one of the first challenges posed by the use of digital tools that of the formalization of architectural and urban thought? “It is neither with a brush nor with a pencil that we draw, it is with intelligence; the tool has nothing to do with it, the mechanism of the hand is even only an accessory and any artist who does not draw in his brain, however skillful his hand, will never be but a pantograph”2. In an interview in 2002 (Parent &#38; Obrist, 2012), the French architect Claude Parent noted that computer-aided design (CAD), by accelerating “the thought process accompanying the creative act”3, deprived architects of the contribution of the drawing time, a complex process, both manual and mental: “And things may go faster. Soon, the images will distort themselves on the monitor and they will only have to freeze the image displayed, selecting it when they like it”4. The “blurred”, “undefined” would be dismissed in favour of a “hyper-technicization of the design process”5, if not a real determinism of the technique on the design and the final architectural form. All this being further reinforced by the ever-greater importance of visual representation in the design and the communication processes in the context of architecture and urban planning (Bertho, 2014; Geneau, 2018).Line 1 : The transformation of thought and of the act of designingToday, the design of the architectural and urban project is in line with the Smart City approach. That is to say, an intelligent city based on the use of multiple data to improve its performance in many areas such as energy, transport and services to inhabitants. It is not simply a question of representing or modelling the architectural and urban project via digital computer-generated images, which is still the most widespread digital practice in use in architecture firms (Prévot &#38; Leclercq, 2010). At the building level, the translations of the acronym BIM (Building Information Modeling, Model or Management) show the multiplicity of its functions, ranging from design to project and building stock management. It is both a new way to model a building through a digital mock-up, a construction process, an information tool, a new method of collaboration between project actors and a management method, etc. In other words, BIM can be assimilated to a new working methodology for generating and using the digital model, allowing knowledge sharing and creating a consolidated information base throughout the life cycle of a building.BIM and digital mock-up at the architectural level : integration/rationalization as a watchwordThe idea of organizing a generalized coordination via digital technologies in the construction sector was strongly reactivated in 2014 following the EU directive encouraging the implementation of a digital mock-up called “BIM” in public procurement. Today, CREM contracts (design, construction and operation or maintenance contracts) are public contracts that combine operation or maintenance with the design and provision of services, particularly in the field of building energetics. They involve the multiple partners in the act of building in more unified processes, particularly through contractual arrangements that bind them within more global markets. Recently used to help in the design/construction of complex and iconic works such as the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Canopée des Halles, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Tour 2D in La Défense or the Odeon Tower in Monaco, new publications have also reported on the ways in which BIM and the digital mock-up are concretely reflected in the views but also in the practices of actors in ordinary projects such as social housing (Chaudet, Patrascu, Bouillon, 2016). On April 20, 2016, Emmaus Habitat submitted France’s first 100 % BIM building permit in Bussy Saint-Georges for a 109-unit housing program in the Sycomore eco-neighbourhood6.Who benefits from BIM ?Is the digital mock-up only a tool, or is it the powerful vehicle for the standardization and industrialization of the architectural and urban project ?Biomimicry and new technologies : the genetic issue in architectureDiscoveries in genetics and the advent of cybernetics (Wiener, 1948) led theorists such as Rayner Banham and Charles Jencks7 to prefigure, as early as the 1970s, the importance of the biological form (Onorato, 2014). In 2000, the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC) opened a master’s degree in Biodigital Architecture8. For Alberto T. Estévez, its founding architect : “the architect of the future will no longer direct bricklayers but genetic engineers”9. The 9th edition of Archilab10, entitled “Naturalizing Architecture”, took place from September 2013 to March 2014. It intended to make visible a new practice which, by exploring the simulation of the living world through digital tools, would be at the crossroads of design, computer science, engineering and biology. By referring to the procedures that emerged following the introduction of the computer into the design process, not as a representation tool but as a calculation tool to generate an evolutionary architecture, just like a living organism, it is the status of the architect that has been transformed to the point of potentially becoming the “breeder” of an architectural project that has become autonomous in its modalities of growth, mutation or selection (Roussel, 2014).What importance should be given to these analogies, both mathematical and natural, in the theoretical and practical production of digital architecture (Picon, 2010) ?What is the future of these experiments ?Line 2 : Impact on work organisation and on the evolution of professions in terms of interprofessionality, new constraints and gamification of urban planningIn recent years, the development of so-called collaborative technologies has led to many changes in work organization.What are the changes in professions, skills and organisational forms underway ? How does the technical object modify the modalities of coordination and collaboration in a sector marked by the fragmentation of actors ?What upheavals do these new tools and contracts introduce into the chronology of the processes of designation of private actors (architects, companies), of design and of construction (Biau, 2014) ?Still regarding the hypothesis of the hybridization of professions and skills related to the production of the city and of the game design this time11, how does the growing trend to combine industrial software specially designed for the modelling of building data, or even, in the long term, of territories and game engines integrating the latest advances in simulation and enhanced visualization, modify the professions of design, construction and urban and/or territorial management ?Education, R&#38;DAt the ENSA of Toulouse and at the LRA (Laboratoire de Recherche en Architecture), educational arrangements interfacing with teaching and research in the field of “Digital Architectures” have enabled students to be confronted with collaborative work consisting in jointly producing the digital mock-up of a remarkable public facility : the José Cabanis media library (Faraut, Ferries, Goulette, Marques, 2016). In Quebec, general and vocational education colleges (CEGEPs) in Old Montreal and Limoilou, soon joined by the École de technologie supérieure (ETS), first got in touch with the Associated General Contractor of America (AGC), one of the largest construction industry associations in the United States, and partnered with them to become the official providers of their BIM training in the Francophonie. They launched the PeBIM program in January 2015, recognized by the Sofeduc and by the CanBIM Professional, the Canadian BIM certifying body12.How, in practice, do these new technologies impact on equipment, pedagogy, training, partnerships and research contracts, both in architecture and engineering schools, as well as in master’s degrees in planning and urban development and their associated research laboratories ?Line 3 : Digital technology in the mediation and governance of the urban projectDigital technology has not dematerialized the city or the territory, far from it ; and it has gradually emerged from the screens to take over the physical space, in a visible way. BIM and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies combine, at the neighbourhood or city level, to produce CIM (City Information Modeling). Aggregating real-time data from sensors, telephone interaction flows, social networks, and even data reported by citizens on a particular service malfunction or road condition, these “virtual duplicates” of the city are intended to allow various prospective uses, including the acceleration of open innovation projects and digital services for the citizen’s use. Companies such as GEOFIT13, SIRS14 or GeoStat15 produce urban databases with spatial references for this purpose. The CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment) and the IAU Ile-de-France are developing digital mock-ups at a neighbourhood level in order to create a simulable city with models for which the precision can reach 3cm/pixel16. BIM in Motion17 is part of the winning team of the call for projects of the épaMARNE-épaFRANCE for the development of two ZACs (urban development zones) in eastern Paris. Finally, training is now available to local authorities to implement a CIM-based development project18.What are the challenges in developing these complex systems in terms of cost, human (training) and material (investments) resources ? What are still the obstacles to the development of such complex systems today, in terms of data structuring and interoperability between operating systems ?Can we imagine combining CIM technologies with Civic Tech (Mabi, 2017) to regenerate participatory democracy and work towards the development of technological innovations that can bring out communities of committed citizens, guide or stimulate the co-construction of renewed public policies or new participatory mechanisms ?Submission of scientific papersPapers should be 15 to 20 pages long, and include, on the first page, the author’s (or authors’) complete details, a title, an abstract and keywords in French and English.The papers will be assessed by means of a double-blind review.Submission of scientific notesAs a supplement to scientific papers, this column contains research notes that do not have the status of articles assessed in a double-blind review but nevertheless represent an interest for their innovative character or the quality of the topic concerned and the paths envisaged. The pieces are shorter than the papers (5 to 10 pages) i.e. between 10000 and 15000 characters which must provide a useful complement to this special issue’s thematic. This type of contribution is also welcomed so as to enable the reader to understand the issues at stake or in the interest of prolonging exploration in the framework of future research.Instructions to authorsScientific papers and scientific notes can be published in French and/or English.Contributions must be sent to : Maryvonne Prévot (maryvonne.prevot@univ-lille.fr), Olivier Blanpain (olivier.blanpain@univ-lille.fr), Elodie Castex (elodie.castex@univ-lille.fr), Guest Editors of the issue, and sabrina.mommolin@univ-lehavre.fr for Netcom journal.Maryvonne Prévot is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lille, UFR of Geography and Development, Territoires Villes Environnement &#38; Société (TVES) EA4477 Laboratory.Olivier Blanpain is a Professor at the University Polytech School of Lille, Territoires Villes Environnement &#38; Société (TVES) EA4477 Laboratory.Elodie Castex is a Senior Lecturer with accreditation to supervise research (HDR) at the University of Lille, UFR of Geography and Development, Territoires Villes Environnement &#38; Société (TVES) EA4477 Laboratory.Procedures concerning format are available on : https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/956Scientific Committee : https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/1211Further information on the journal : https://journals.openedition.org/netcom/Indicative timetable- January 30, 2019 : Call for papers.- December 2nd, 2019 : Submission of proposals.- March 2020 : Return of proposal reviews.- July 2020 : Return of papers with authors’ revisions- October 2020 : Publication of the issue.