Varia
Spatial occupation, densification and urban sprawl (1 encadré; 13 fig.; 2 tabl.)
One of the main intentions for urban policies in the past two decades has been to reduce the over consumption of urbanised areas. Densifying cities could limit their expansion. However, we suggest a model of urban growth in which density and urban sprawl are two variables that covariate according to the area occupied by a single person in a city. By using several case studies of French urban systems, we demonstrate that densification between 1990 and 2018 did not curb urban sprawl.
keywords: DENSIFICATION, SPATIAL OCCUPATION, URBAN GROWTH, URBAN MODELISATION, URBAN SPRAWL
Ageing and migration attraction of rural towns in France (8 fig.; 3 tabl.)
After having defined rural towns in France and analysed residential migrations, this paper looks at population ageing in rural towns. The findings show that rural towns have become the category of settlement with the highest proportion of elderly people in France, much more than villages and cities. Contrary to popular belief, their ageing is partly due to their migration attraction for a diverse population of retired persons. This structural phenomenon could become a source of development for these rural towns that are often subject to “revitalisation” policies.
keywords: AGEING, RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY, RURAL, RURAL TOWN, SMALL TOWN
Rural and urban interpenetration in Thailand: A diachronic approach to smallholder farm resilience (1967-1927) (1 fig.)
Jonathan Rigg, Michel Bruneau and other researchers, analysed the relationship between the rural and the urban during the two agrarian transitions (1960-1980 and 1990-2017) based on the research they carried out in the villages in Northern and North-East Thailand between 1967 and 2017. During the first agrarian transition, the penetration of the market economy and development policies increased inequalities in terms of land and led to demands for land reforms. In the second, strong industrial and urban economic growth induced increasing mobility and labour migration, which in turn caused the diversification of activities in rural areas and a drastic decrease of the share of agriculture income of family smallholdings that were yet resilient. The periodic or episodic backs and forths, depending on the economic situation, of these peasant-workers or worker-peasants helped maintain a symbiotic relationship between rural and urban spaces that interpenetrate.
keywords: AGRARIAN REFORM, AGRICULTURAL SMALLHOLDING, INFORMAL SECTOR, RURAL, URBAN
Access to energy in Quebrada de Humahuaca valley (Argentina): The function of energy grids in dwellers’ strategies (4 fig.; 4 photos; 1 tabl.)
In Quebrada de Humahuaca valley, with the territorialisation of international and regional energy grids come debates on inhabitants’ access to energy. UNESCO heritage designation and the promotion of tourism are contributing to the development of a centralized energy distribution grid that does not meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations. Proposing differentiated energy services is a response, although limited, to energy insecurity. The precarious inclusion of dwellers encourages them to use diversified energy resources and to deploy DIY solutions.
keywords: ANDES, INCLUSION, ENERGY GRIDS, ENERGY POVERTY, MARGINS
The expansion of the French Polynesian migratory field in the 21st century: The result of a qualified youth (5 fig.; 2 tabl.)
Formerly limited to Oceania, the French Polynesian migratory field expanded in the 21st century towards developed Western countries in the Pacific Ocean and metropolitan France. This concerns an increasing number of young people since the 1980s. The diversity of these young emigrants’ migration paths is examined in the light of their resources and family situations: education level, migration experiences, gender. The finding show that this emigration more closely resembles that of a model of qualified mobilities rather than of the model of transnational family economy distinctive of working classes in Oceanian small island states.
keywords: EMIGRATION, OVERSEAS TERRITORY, SMALL ISLAND STATE
Book reviews
In this issue of l’Espace géographique, you will find critical reviews of the following books
SOULA T. (2021). Géographie littéraire de Paris dans l’œuvre de Jacques Réda. Le flâneur mégapolitain. Paris: Garnier, coll. «Classiques Garnier», 554 p. (Jean-Louis Tissier, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) ISBN: 978-2-406-12049-0
L’espace géographique 3-4/21
L’espace géographique 2/22
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Last modified: June 5, 2023