Réseaux de villes et logiques d'efficacité et d'équité

Abstract

To link the notions of efficacity and justice (equity) to the actions of networks of cities assumes that we have first understood the conditions which produced this process towards alliance and cooperation, in itself voluntarily determined, between elected representatives and municipal actors, who have freely listened to each other in order to situate development within the context of a common project. Networks of cities may thus be understood on several levels. They contribute to allowing cities to be recognized as pivotal points in territorial development. They make it possible to optimize municipal management through an anticipation of changes which are going to affect collectivities (employment, for example), and the control of which becomes more efficient when taken outside of a strictly-defined area of expertise. It may also be observed that networks of cities constitute a stimulating context, on the regional scale especially, for actors looking for mediators to confederate their actions. The efficacity and equity of networks of cities vary in function to the degree of involvement of elected officials and the technicians of the cities concerned. This institutional proximity gives networks of cities a more structured "scale" than a project group, while at the same time assigning them a less rigid structure than a community institution. This article will try to show how networks of cities contribute to defining a more efficient and equitable territorial "webs" based on the linking together of various scales which seeks to overcome traditional urban hierarchies.

Qu’est la Métropole-jardin devenue ?

“…La croissance francilienne débordant sur ses franges, on s'intéresse de nouveau au Bassin parisien. Le livre blanc du Bassin parisien préconise le scénario « du Réseau métropolitain maillé » (Duport, 1992, p. 58-62) qui ressuscite opportunément le concept de réseau de villes, expression légitimée par la déclaration de soutien du ministre Chérèque devant l'assemblée nationale le 29 mai 1990, (Derycke, 1993), et qui fait désormais partie de la doctrine officielle de l'aménagement du territoire en France (Tesson, 1997 ;Royoux, 1997) 1 . Les vertus du polycentrisme ont été discutées dans le contexte de l'articulation de l'aménagement du territoire français dans le territoire européen (Baudelle et Castagnede, 2002).…”