Revue de Droit Immobilier – January 2026 – The crucial issue of preserving soil memory to secure land recycling

The fight against soil artificialization and the relocation of strategic economic activities increasingly rely on the recycling of land, including industrial land. But reusing previously occupied sites often involves dealing with residual pollution, which is sometimes incompatible with new uses.

Over the last thirty years, legal measures have gradually been put in place to preserve the memory of pollution and to control future uses: restrictions on use, public utility easements (SUP), soil information sectors (SIS), databases… A Guide was published on this subject in November 2025 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

However, these different systems are sometimes confused, posing operational and legal problems that require special attention from the various stakeholders in order to ensure secure use and thus greater land recycling.

Thanks to Sophie Aubert for publishing this article in the RDI Lefebvre Dalloz real estate law review.

These topics resonate fully with the issues that will be at the heart of MIPIM 2026 – Global Urban Festival, where public and private decision-makers, investors and developers will meet to (re)invent the city and accelerate the transformation of real estate assets.

I’ll be at MIPIM with the entire UGGC Avocats team, which specializes in investment structuring, transactions and development projects, to discuss these issues of securing projects, land recycling and sustainable urban development.