Contesting the Olympics in Seine-Saint-Denis (France): Knowledge co-production to challenge mega-event planning

Since 2017, in Seine-Saint-Denis (France), the Comité de Vigilance JO 2024 has been mobilizing residents, associations, and researchers to challenge the urban projects linked to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Faced with the transformations imposed by this event-driven urban planning, the collective has been developing forms of counter-expertise with residents and citizens, such as territorial analysis, pleas, and alternative projects. The aim was to document the social and environmental effects of these developments and to call for local needs to be better taken into account. This paper explores the processes of co-production of knowledge between residents, activists, professionals, and researchers, aimed at building an audible and credible alternative account of the Olympic projects, informing public opinion, and challenging public and private organizations. By exploring the epistemic dimension of this mobilization, the objective of this research is to understand how collective knowledge, rooted in local experience, can influence the urban fabric in the context of mega-events and strengthen people’s ability to cope with current socio-spatial and environmental challenges.