Dossier système électrique suscitent des mesures et politiques concernant la sécurité et la fiabilité de l'approvisionnement, les tarifs, la qualité de l'air, le développement des énergies renouvelables. Autant voire plus que des causes médiatisées à l'échelle internationale (pic pétrolier, changement climatique), l'expression de ces questions électriques en termes politiques procède Les marges de manoeuvre pour y répondre sont cependant étroites aux échelles urbaines, comme le montre aussi bien l'exemple des villes secondaires turques (Pérouse, 2013*) que celui d'une métropole riche comme Le Cap (Dubresson, 2013*) : les sentiers de dépendance technologiques (choix des énergies primaires) et économiques (structuration de l'industrie

International audienceMetropolitan authorities and local business elites are often seen as major players in the energy transition in the city. Such energy transitions are mostly conceived of as low carbon technologies, which permit the retrofitting of urban infrastructure and the rebundling of metabolic circuits. This article contests these views by highlighting the major role of non-urban energy sector institutions and actors. By examining the connections between technology, space and energy politics , and by using a relational understanding of the urban, this article explores the case of Amman's energy transition. The growth of consumption coupled with new energy practices face a problematic supply because shifts in regional geopolitics prompted energy transition policies, among which are included a green growth program and the building of a nuclear power plant at the edge of the city. The article analyses the socio-political assemblages that shape those policies and unravel the competing interests at stake. It demonstrates the political and highly unruly nature of energy transitions

Mots clés : Services urbains, réforme des services publics, libéralisation, électricité, territorialisation, guerre, reconstruction, Liban Electricity and space : a view on the Lebanese crisis Summary Modernizing the power sector was a major goal of the post-Independence regimes. But since the civil war, it has experienced a long crisis. The social transformations (urban growth, poverty) have hampered the efficiency of the production and distribution of electricity. Power shortages still persist, a calamitous management leads to an increasing debt. Deep spatial inequalities in the access to the electricity and in the regulation of the system affect the system. It reveals a strongly differentiated local management, notably regarding fraud and non payment. The programs attempting to counter these practices are implemented with strong differences according to the regions. It reveals the strength of the local actors in the ruling of the sector, and their attempt at preventing the reforms. 2 IntroductionÉtudier les transformations du secteur de l'électricité au Liban permet de se tenir à la croisée de plusieurs questionnements. Tout d'abord, il s'agit d'un des secteurs aujourd'hui concernés dans ce pays par la mise en oeuvre de réformes d'inspiration libérale 2 . À ce titre, il permet de comparer la situation libanaise aux transformations amorcées dans plusieurs autres pays de la région, comme le Maroc, pionnier dans la délégation des services urbains, la Jordanie qui est entrée plus tardivement et plus prudemment dans ce processus, ou encore les Émirats arabes unis (MIRAS, LETELLIER, 2005 ;DARMANE, 2006 ;DUMORTIER, LAMBERT, 2007). L'électricité est par ailleurs un enjeu clé dans la crise financière du Liban, alors que les tensions politiques internes et externes qui fragilisent le pays minent toute tentative de solution. L'endettement de l'Électricité du Liban (EDL) représente en effet près du tiers de la dette totale contractée par le Liban, qui équivaut, fin 2007, à deux fois le PIB. L'EDL, un établissement public en position de quasi-monopole, est confronté à de multiples problèmes : aux dysfonctionnements techniques causés par la guerre civile et les bombardements israéliens répétés jusqu'à 2006, s'ajoutent l'incomplète réhabilitation de l'outil de production et du réseau de transport, la fraude élevée, de multiples affaires de corruption et la récente flambée des prix du pétrole. La réforme de l'électricité apparaît donc comme un enjeu central pour la stabilité économique, sociale et politique du pays mais le schéma de privatisation qui est présenté comme la solution à la crise est loin d'être clairement défini.Sans négliger ces multiples dimensions du problème, nous proposons de lire la crise de l'EDL comme le résultat de tensions entre deux logiques de territorialisation, entendues à la manière de R. SACK reprise par Sylvy JAGLIN, c'est-à-dire comme « un processus de délimitation et d'encadrement d'une portion d'espace par une autorité organisée à des fins de contrôle sur les personnes, les ressources, les re...

International audienceConsiders the governance of natural gas networks in emerging cities. Adopts a geographical approach looking at interactions between natural gas infrastructure and urban space. Switch to natural gas linked to financial purpose (subsidy cuts) more than concern for climate change. Switch to natural gas shaped by policies governing other urban energy forms. Urban politics and issues of affordability impact the governance of natural gas transition. a b s t r a c t Recent scholarship on urban energy governance has focused on low carbon energy strategies seen as a response to climate change and energy pressure threats. But such approaches tend to overlook the situations of cities from the Global South and emerging countries concerned with strong energy demand growth. The development of urban natural gas networks is an understudied response to such a challenge. Focusing on three cities, Istanbul, Cairo and Sfax (Tunisia), the article analyses the factors and the governance of these energy transitions. It uses a geographical approach to such processes that highlight the mutual influence of the territory in its material and political dimensions and of the policy goals and tools in the implementation. The development of urban gas networks rests upon the proximity of gas deposits. It is determined by metropolitan strategies for economic development as well as by programs aiming to cut energy subsidies. Though urban gas networks have a strong potential for restructuring the physical and social landscapes in cities, the dominant commercial approach taken by energy utilities and morphological constraints in the urban fabric limit their universalization. Natural gas is part of a mix of energies at the urban level and often competes with other energy forms, specifically renewables (like solar water heaters). Lastly, the development of urban natural gas networks sparks heated politics in relation to unfulfilled energy demand and affordability

The architect and planner Michel Ecochard has had a long career in developing countries, from its first works in Syria under the French rule, until the 1970s. He represented the modernist and functionalist approach to planning in a time of modernization. In this article, we concentrate on his work in Lebanon and Syria between the end of the 1950s and the 1960s. He prepared the master plans of Beirut and of Damascus. Those works represented the end of an era rooted in colonial planning. It was also the beginning of a new time, with the local planners taking on, sometimes sharing, sometimes contesting Ecochard's visions. Building on recent scholarship on the circulation of planning ideas, we focus on the reception of Ecochard's proposals. Though most political elites and planning professionals shared most of Ecochard's views, the political circumstances and the changing social conditions led to adjustments and reorientations. The new planning framework was also a major factor of change.