Contenu du sommaire : Mutations économiques des villes petites et moyennes

The socio-economy of small and medium-sized towns: theoretical issues and consequences for regional planning policies This article is an introduction to a special issue of the journal, devoted to the progress of research in the analysis of economic dynamics of small and medium-sized towns (SMST). As the notion of SMST comes from regional planning policies, we argue for a redefinition of the object by the researchers. We propose to examine the category of SMST in the light of urban research, which is usually attached to very large cities. Then, we discuss the theoretical and practical lessons contained in the various articles of the issue. These papers show, from detailed case studies, that today's dynamic SMST correspond to the image of the city as a space of material and immaterial flows. This redefinition of the SMST is part of the latest trends in urban research, with this difference from the major cities, that SMST use more of their history and heritage in order to compete in markets.

What economic future for middle size cities in a service society? Since the 70s, France has experienced deeply new spatial economic trends, largely driven by the business service sector. Medium sized cities appear to be suffering from such trends which much more benefit to larger urban conurbations. Mid-size cities grow at a slower rate and mainly differ from larger ones by some typical weaknesses in their economies : underdevelopment of business services, research activities and higher skilled labour. Data from the 1982 to 1999 censuses show however that the city size doesn't directly explain the dynamic gaps observed. More precisely, the dynamism of middle size cities depends on the level of skill developed by their business services ; on the opposite, an excessively specialised economy may hinder economic growth, as will also do a too high rate of retired people. These results suggest some paths which may be useful to local development policies.

Organization of activities and territorial dynamics: analysis and application to the industrial basins of Cognac and Châtellerault Giving new insights about territorial development is the aim of this paper. We search to reach this goal by taking into account a large group of determining factors. This allows us to analyze the diversity of the existing territories. Our conceptual framework is based on several theories that belong to the economics of the firm and to the new economic sociology. Based on this theoretical grid, we study two medium-sized industrial basins located in the Poitou-Charentes region, Cognac and Châtellerault. Transaction costs and knowledge assets appear as determining factors in the development of the two studied areas. They nevertheless give rise to two different territorial development schemes. They lead to the creation of a cluster specialized in the Brandy's production in the first industrial basin, whereas it results in a local system of competences around the mechanical knowledge in the second one.

Economic paths and social forms of innovation in medium-sized cities: the cases of Albi(Midi-Pyrénées), Alès(Languedoc-Roussillon), Fougères and Quimper(Bretagne) Several common ideas turn around the concept of « Medium-Sized Cities ». Too small to influence their economic environment, their industrial patterns wouldn't be able to reach the standards of post-fordism based on a constant innovation process. As a consequence, concentrating public R&D investments in Metropolitan Areas would ensure and comfort economic growth. Studying the social and spatial levels linked to technopolitan projects hold in the cities of Albi (Tarn), Alès (Gard), Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine) and Quimper (Finistère), we come to the conclusion Medium Sized-Cities are, on a long term perspective, adapting themselves to the contemporary economic regime based on a constant innovation process.

Socio-spatial structure of innovation networks in traditional manufacturing sector of medium size city This article analyses results of a survey among small and mid-size manufacturing enterprises, with low to medium added value production, located in the Quebec province in a mid-size city showing a strong economic progression during the last three decades. Based on the sociologic theory of embeddedness of economic activities within social structures, indicators are developed in order to describe the socio-spatial configuration of business networks related to enterprise's innovation activities and to search for relationships with its performance. Findings suggest that the economic performance of industrialized mid-size cities depends on enterprises combining both a strong local integration of their business networks and a sufficient spatial extension of relationships, although local integration should be supported by institutional intermediation based on geographic and social proximity.

Agriculture, part of the quality of life of medium-sized towns Among the characteristics of medium-sized towns, their « quality of life » is often emphasized. We propose, through this article, to consider how agriculture contributes to this qualitative image. We will lean on a field survey conducted in three towns in the Rhone-Alps region : Annecy, Bourg-en-Bresse and Montbrison. We will see that these towns use various entrances to highlight their link with agriculture : the food markets, elements of their « local life » ; heritage, particularly through the organization of « agricultural » events ; local products, by the reference to the « local gastronomy ». Thus, agriculture seems integrated with the image of these towns, and sees itself exploited to specify their quality of life and assert their identity.

TGV, local economic development and city size: an analysis in terms of service innovations
The link between TGV service and local economic development is a very controversial subject. A lot of effects are quoted in the literature. But their birth is linked to a lot of different conditions. In this paper, we focus on the city size. Analyzing a TGV service in a territory as service innovations, we show that small and medium size cities are disadvantaged in terms of potential effects for two reasons. First, ameliorative innovations linked to TGV service in these cities are less important. Second, their characteristics are less favourable in terms of use potentialities of the TGV service. Our analysis is illustrated by the case of the small and medium cities in the Champagne-Ardenne region, which are served by East-European TGV since 2007.