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Wildland Fire and Cities: resilience of urban interfaces to wildfire in the context of climate change

09 juillet 2026

In France, more than 80% of wildfires start near residential areas. Given the increasing threat posed by climate change, it is essential to integrate wildland fire prevention and suppression strategies more fully into urban planning. The collective scientific assessment (ESCo) “Wildland Fire and Urban Interfaces” is a CNRS project that aims to compile and evaluate the current state of knowledge on urban interfaces exposed to wildland fire in the broader context of climate change. In doing so, it addresses the notion of risk, the different impacts of fire in these specific environments, as well as the factors shaping resilience to this hazard.

Climate change is contributing to the intensification and spatial expansion of wildland fire risk; as a result, up to 50% of France’s territory may become vulnerable by 2050. While fire mitigation and preparedness strategies have been extensively studied in wildland contexts in France, French climate strategies in urban areas have focused primarily on adaptation to rising temperatures and other natural hazards. Yet it is precisely within areas located at the interface between urbanized spaces and forested or plant-covered landscapes that both the main sources of ignition and the greatest risks to people, property, and infrastructures are concentrated. These areas, commonly referred to as wildland–urban interfaces (WUI), constitute a major field of research.

The “Wildland Fire and Urban Interfaces” assessment, led by the CNRS Mission for Scientific Expertise (MPES), will establish the current state of scientific knowledge on the issues raised by wildland fire in wildland-urban interfaces, from the perspective of the city and in the context of climate change. The assessment will draw on the existing scientific literature to provide a multidisciplinary review intended to support public decision-making and debate, with two major objectives:

  • First, to establish a state of the art of scientific knowledge on wildland fire risk and its impact on wildland–urban interfaces.
  • Second, to provide a review of existing knowledge on adaptation strategies aimed at strengthening the resilience of cities and urbanized areas to this threat.

The assessment will determine whether knowledge developed abroad can be applied to France and, if so, will specify under which conditions this transfer is possible and relevant.

In conducting this collective scientific assessment, the CNRS will ensure compliance with its fundamental values: competence, independence, impartiality, and transparency.

 

Photo credit: Adobe stock.

The experts and authors who contributed to this document

Scientific leads

  • Christine Bouisset is a professor at the Université de Pau et des pays de l’Adour and a researcher at the CNRS UMR TREE, specializing in environmental, territorial, and risk management issues.
  • Jean-Baptiste Filippi is a researcher at the CNRS UMR SPE, specializing in modelling and numerical forecasting of wildfires, at the Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli.

Principal experts

  • Christopher Carcaillet is director of studies at the EPHE and a professor at the Université Paris Dauphine - PSL, UMR LEHNA, specializing in the functioning of socio-ecosystems, biodiversity dynamics, and climate-disturbance interactions.
  • Régis Darques is a researcher at the CNRS UMR ESPACE in environmental geography, specializing in wildfires and the study of wildland-urban interfaces (WUI).
  • Sophie Didier is a professor of urban planning and development at the Université Gustave Eiffel, currently representing the CNRS as deputy director at IRL Iglobes in Tucson, Arizona, United States.
  • Laurent Li is a research director at the CNRS UMR LMD-IPSL in geoscience, climate, and climate change.
  • Éric Maillé is a research engineer at INRAE, in the INRAE-Aix-Marseille Université UMR RECOVER, specializing in the analysis of wildfire risk in wildland-urban interfaces and the vulnerability of key areas to this risk.
  • Béatrice Parguel is a research director at the CNRS DRM UMR (Université Paris Dauphine - PSL), specializing in social marketing and environmental psychology, with a focus on communication and responsible behaviour.
  • Mélanie Rochoux is a research director at the CECI UMR (Cerfacs, CNRS, and IRD), specializing in modelling the behaviour of forest and vegetation fires, atmospheric science, and micrometeorology.
  • Sandrine Spaeter-Loehrer is a professor at the Université de Strasbourg in the department of economics and management, and a researcher at BETA, the UNISTRA-CNRS UMR, specializing in the economics of risk and insurance, specifically in major risk coverage.
  • Virginie Tihay-Felicelli is an associate professor at the Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli, UMR SPE, specializing in combustion and the study of structural (building/construction) vulnerability to wildfires.
  • Céline Vacchiani-Marcuzzo is a professor at the Université Paris Cité, UMR Géographie-cités, specializing in the study of cities, mobility, and socio-spatial inequalities.
  • Karine Weiss is a professor at Nîmes Université, UPR Apsy-v, specializing in the perception and representation of risks, as well as preventive measures and behaviours.

Crédit photo : Adobe stock.

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