Contenu du sommaire : Les nouvelles mailles du pouvoir local

In the Rhône-Alpes region a process of contractual definition of 'pays' (known as project territories) is underway. This process falls within the context of state attempts to undertake territorial reform, although above all it corresponds with a strategy of giving a territorial dimension to regional power. Initially it involves the creation of a typology of inter-regional spaces and the definition of a form of regional doctrine of territorial power. This is followed by local political negotiation to enable the definition on the ground of the limits of the 'pays' which are formally recognised by comprehensive development contracts. Scientific myths, socio-spatial objectivism and interactions between local actors are all inseparably interrelated in this process of 'manufacturing' territories.

The formation of the Lyon agglomeration as an entity in the local political system is the result of a long development process. This has evolved from the confrontation between the centre of city and its suburbs, existing at the beginning of the century, to the supra- communal institution which exists currently. The history of joint action between 'communes', in particular the secular development of the urban drainage system, makes it possible to understand how a multi-communal agglomeration progressively establishes itself as a legitimate territorial unit. The interest of this genealogical approach is to propose a new formulation of terms currently used in the debate over the reform of local territorial systems.

The recent failure to set up an 'urban district', the repeated inability to reform the town's structure plan (SDAU) and the systematic break-up of intercommunal activity, all confirm the impossibility of providing St-Etienne with a territorial institution with responsibility for its management and planning. The basic reasons for these lasting barriers are to be found in the congenital division of industrial society and space, a fact that should not be masked by the myth of the 'industrial region'.

Space is not homogeneous and statisticians find traditional administrative divisions unsatisfactory. Over a number of years, therefore, INSEE has defined different spatial units to meet different requirements , ZPIU (industrial and urban population zone), employment basin, activity space.

The Law passed on 6th February 1992 instituted two new categories of inter-communal groupings which have been added to a series of other such groupings promulgated over more than a century. As a result the geography of joint-action between communes in France has become highly complex. From an initial clarification of the main issues related to such joint activity, a series of ten maps, at different scales, attempts to offer a number of insights and methods of geographical analysis of the phenomenon.

French regional development policy is henceforth orientated and organised by the Law passed on 4th February 1995. Legal study of the financial and fiscal provisions of this law shows various and not always coherent responses to the central problem of the unequal development of space. The policy of capital funding by the state is developed, but it remains relatively unselective for eligible zones (I). Conversely, the mechanisms of fiscal exemptions used to encourage development , are clarified, benefiting disadvantaged areas (II). However, faced with the inequalities resulting from the local tax revenue, the legislator has opted for a process of per capita redistribution rather than basic reform (III).

Regional planning and development policy has recently encountered a revival of interest, but what is its place in a society where decision making occurs increasingly on a world scale ? Studies and debates reveal the limitations of such policies due to the inadaption of means and scales ; partial knowledge, out-dated concepts and postulates which have more of a financial of political nature rather than territorial character, limit their effects. Faced with decentralisation and the process of European construction, the state has sought to act as an arbitrator : regions and the new activity spaces are presented as the ideal levels for planning and development. However, spatial questions are still poorly understood and of secondary importance.

The articles which comprise this issue of the Revue de Géographie de Lyon emphasise three major themes - the logic of territorial development, spatial scales of planning and development policy and the critical political dimension to such policy. The first part focuses on the important role in territorial structuring played by intercommunal experience, the management of technical networks and the part played by conflicts and projects. The second underlines the necessity to act on the links between different territorial scales if the obstacles which both public policy and local initiatives encounter today in relation to development policy are to be overcome. The third reveals the major political foundations to the majority of territorial divisions which are currently being undertaken and demonstrates the developing conflicts of authority which this produces between the various levels of territorial units.