LE COMITÉ DE DIRECTION. Éditorial
Population movements and urban decline: A typology of French urban areas based on a harmonized database (1962-2017) (9 fig.; 2 tabl.)
Recent studies reveal an increasing number of French cities affected by population decline. These are mainly small or medium-sized cities that are not under the direct influence of the main conurbations. This finding is based on an original database covering a period of sixty years. By formalising population movements in French cities since the 1960s using the optimal matching method, we were able to make three main observations. First, most of the cities affected by population decline in the 2000s had already lost inhabitants in the 1970s and 1980s. These cities are, for the most part, located in former industrial centres or in the Northern part of the “low-density diagonal”. However, we observe a new group of cities that underwent recent decline, mainly small and suburban ones. By using data on suburban areas and catchment areas, we demonstrate that population decline is not necessarily due to a loss of urban attractiveness, but can also be the consequence of short-range residential mobility towards surrounding rural areas.
keywords: FRANCE, OPTIMAL MATCHING, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES, URBAN DECLINE
Private streets in Nantes: A socio-spatial marker and the regulation of the automobile inside the city? (8 fig.; 6 photos)
Private streets are certainly few in our cities, and yet they question social coexistence, especially when they represent a significant part of the urban road network in some areas. One quarter of the streets (dead ends mostly) of the 24 communes that make up Nantes Metropole have a private status. They can be found everywhere, although they are very unevenly distributed. Analysing the geography of private streets in Nantes Metropole leads to two questions. Are private streets an indicator of social inequalities that are observed in urban areas? Are private streets that control their access a way to regulate the place of the automobile inside cities?
keywords: AUTOMOBILE, GATED RESIDENTIAL SPACE, HOUSING, NANTES, PRIVATE STREET, SOCIO-SPATIAL INEQUALITY
French communes nouvelles (2010-2020): An analysis of these reshaped everyday territories (6 fig.; 11 tabl.)
Over the past years, a major trend of communal mergers has led to the reorganisation of this level of administration. By studying the characteristics of the cities concerned, this paper highlights their diversity both in terms of socio-economic profile and population dynamics by using the different components of the urban area zoning classification. Our analysis points to the heterogeneity within communes nouvelles and their consequent lack of coherence as experienced by individuals in their daily lives. These communes nouvelles are mostly secondary centres that only partly provide for daily uses. Finally, by comparing communes that merged with similar entities, we were able to uncover important contrasts in terms of financial potential and socio-economic profiles, both between communes themselves and between the communes and the scale of administration they are being compared with.
keywords: COMMUNE NOUVELLE, MERGING, MUNICIPALITY, SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES, SPATIAL ANALYSIS, URBAN AREA ZONING
In the footsteps of Paul Vidal de La Blache in Île-de-France – Study of field diary no. 13: between sensitive wandering and methodical excursion, a laboratory of scientific thinking (9 fig.)
Paul Vidal de La Blache’s field notebooks have been the subject of fruitful analyses attesting to the geographer’s taste for “in situ” observation. In the wake of this work, studying notebook number 13, which focuses on the numerous trips Vidal took around Paris in 1988 onwards, has provided us with a better understanding of his unique approach. Mapping the places he visited enabled us to identify the research locations that he methodically studied. Moreover, the detailed analysis of his notes confirms the itinerant sensibility of the geographer.
mots clés: FIELD NOTEBOOK, FRENCH SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY, LANDSCAPES, PAUL VIDAL DE LA BLACHE, SENSIBILITY
Teaching about migration for debate in the classroom? (3 fig.; 6 photos; 7 tabl.)
Migration is a hotly debated topic in society and the media. The topic was introduced as a distinct chapter in the geography curriculum in 2015 for middle school and in 2019 for high school. Is it an issue for debate in schools? To answer this question, we must analyse how migration are taught. Such analyses do not go beyond the study of textbooks. In this article, we analyse the whole curriculum design process in the framework of the Erasmus Geocap 3 project: geography curricula, textbooks, the representations students have of migrations and teachers’ reported practices. We demonstrate that, against all odds, migrations do not arouse strong reactions in schools.
keywords: CONCEPTION, CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE, DIDACTIC, MIGRATION, TEACHING TEXTBOOK
Borders and territorial projects. Example of the Sahelo-Saharan region (1 fig.)
The Sahelo-Saharan area is divided by State borders that were created with the decolonization process. However, past and present territorial activities exceed these limits and are organized at different scales around spaces that often dismiss or disregard borders. More than ever, border policies are considered as a way to control. Being both a resource and a refuge, border areas are increasingly seen as zones where both risks and opportunities mingle. The different existing modes of bordering disturb smaller-scale migrations because the regulation done follows a Europedominated logic that leads to the redeployment of extra-territorialised borders as far as the Sahel. These bordering modes also recompose and generate cross-border territories where both legal and illegal activities intersect.
keywords: BORDER, MOBILITY, SAHARA, SAHEL, TERRITORIAL PROJECT
Réédition de deux ouvrages précurseurs sur les rapports à la nature
Book reviews
In this issue of l’Espace géographique, you will find critical reviews of the following books
DAUPHANT L. (2018). Géographie. Ce qu’ils savaient de la France (1100-1600). Ceyzérieu: Champ Vallon, 318 p. (Jean-Christophe Gay, IAE Nice, université Côte d’Azur) ISBN: 979-10-267-0680-9
GINSBURGER N., ROBIC M.-C., TISSIER J.-L. (2021). Géographes français en Seconde Guerre mondiale. Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, coll. «Territoires en mouvements», 442 p. (Claude Bataillon, CNRS Toulouse) ISBN: 979-10-351-0623-2
HERVÉ-FOURNEREAU N., THÉRIAULT S. (dir.)(2020). Peuples autochtones et intégrations régionales. Pour une durabilité repensée des ressources naturelles et de la biodiversité? Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, coll. «L’univers des normes», 444 p. (Claude Bataillon, CNRS Toulouse) ISBN: 978-2-7535-7941-5
MUSSET A. (dir.)(2019). Station Metropolis direction Coruscant. Ville, science-fiction et sciences sociales. Saint-Mammès: Le Bélial Éditions, 272 p. (Georges-Henry Laffont, ENSA Saint-Étienne) ISBN: 978-2-84344-890-4
SIMON D. (2021). Max Sorre, une écologie humaine. Penser la géographie comme science de l’homme. Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, coll. «Homme et société», 320 p. (Jean-Louis Tissier) ISBN: 979-10-351-0632-4
L’espace géographique 4/20
L’espace géographique 3-4/21
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Last modified: July 4, 2022