Contenu du sommaire : Les agriculteurs dans la cité

Edge cities and green spaces. With the emergence of what has been coined the « edge-city », urban green spaces are no longer located out of town, but instead are found in wedges created by the juxtaposition of various structures and shapes of the urban fabric within this area. Whereas in the past it was believed that these green areas were self-sufficient and that their renewal was related to spontaneous biological phenomena, the rise of the edge-city has clearly highlighted the need for maintenance. This new paradigm has thus led to new ways of thinking about relationships between cities and nature in the wider sense. Most importantly, it highlights the need to come to terms with the modernist conception of architecture and urban planning and to move towards methods of management which are based on « systems » or « networks » of green spaces within a city — a concept that was used as early as the nineteenth century.

The modem construction of a « country town » in Europe. This paper deals with the role of agriculture, in the broad sense of the word, in a « country town » project, where agriculture is an integral component of nature. The first part describes the change in social status of the peri-urban area. For a long time, this area was devoted to carrying out useful, essential urban tasks (from a urban point of view), but was often dirty and ugly and, for this reason, an unpleasant environment in which to live. The peri-urban area was also movable, gradually being pushed further from the centre under the influence of urban spreading. More recently, however, the area has provided a more pleasant environment, where new inhabitants seek to maintain countryside amenities. Indeed, urban planning has endorsed this conception by creating green belts and by including agriculture as an integral element of natural spaces, with special properties (nearness, landscape attraction). The second part of the paper analyzes the expectations of urban residents, and discusses the role of the peri-urban area as a market for the delivery of rural goods, services and amenities. A new type of agriculture is emerging, the aims of which are to provide and promote pleasure (farming as a hobby, gardening), social integration (community gardens), heritage, symbolic values, and so on. This is the product of both private and public initiatives, and the landscape constitutes an integral part. The last part considers how agriculture can adapt to these new circumstances while maintaining its customary role. Even though farmers continue farming in peri-urban areas, they do not produce for the local market, because of modern commodity chains, but for the global market. However, by improving its environmental impact and the quality of its products, agriculture is now perceived more favourably by the local population. Agriculture may thus become a partner in local development, not because of its products but more by virtue of its landscape qualities.

The farmer, rurality, and the geographer. Toward a socio-geographic study of farmers. Since the mid-fifties, major economic, demographic and cultural changes have radically influenced farmer-town relationships. On one hand, the second agricultural revolution resulting from mechanization has had a big effect on internal and external agricultural relations. The agricultural crisis since the mid-eighties has favoured the development of a new profession, that of the rural manager, in close contact with both the market and urban dwellers. On the other hand, since 1975 positive migratory flows to rural areas have brought about profound social changes linked with the arrival of former urbanités. Finally, changes in the cultural fabric have resulted in many different attitudes to place and temporality, particularly between farmers and the other inhabitants. After identifying the principal characteristics of this phenomenon, the paper studies the main developments in the explanatory models which have structured geographical research since the mid-fifties. Particular attention is paid to the terms of the discussion which took place between 1985 and 1995, concerning the two ways of examining the social and spatial changes occurring in rural/town relationships. Interviews reveal that farmers who experience increasingly different places in town, continue to have split images of town and country. This encourages us to develop a new geographical approach to such studies by considering, as a starting point, the social and spatial itinerary of farmers who live in five or six types of rural space.

Urban agriculture in Tunisia: residual space or a new territorial component ? The case of Greater Tunis. The spread of the urban area of the largest Tunisian agglomeration, that of Greater Tunis, is currently reflected in the migration of farms from the centre towards more peripheral locations. This development has served to quicken agricultures break with the different modes of production within the urban territory. Under the effects of this break, the internal coherence of the agricultural area has degenerated considerably, and if no alternative urban development plan is put forward allowing for a new system of regional production, the area's future will become increasingly uncertain. Based on the case study in Tunisia, the present article analyses the current state of both agriculture and urban farmers in relation to increasing peri-urbanisation, and underlines the importance that local society today attaches to the rural and agricultural environment surrounding it.

Periurban housing: choice or dominant model ? This paper questions the reasons for periurban residential choice and the associated underlying representations. The quest for nature has long been common among city dwellers, leading them to temporarily set up home in the countryside (secondary residence, farm holidays...) while generally maintaining their base and ties within the urban area. If, at a certain date, certain city dwellers chose to settle in periurban sites, institutional and private sector actors appropriated this desire to be closer to nature and associated it with a certain type of suburban housing, making it a dominant model. The choice of residence then became considerably reduced for large portions of the population who were channeled towards a dominant offer: the house in the suburbs. Institutional and private actors have thus participated in the spread of urban housing models to the countryside. Unfortunately, the models are increasingly at odds with the models sought by the residents.

Intermediate spaces, a hybrid form : a town in the countryside, or countryside in the town ? This paper addresses the notion of intermediate spaces. Spatial dynamics have long been explained largely by urban and rural socio-spatial dynamics, in accordance with the centre/periphery model. This explanation implies the existence of two, well-defined categories : on the one hand, urban centres and their immediate surroundings and, on the other, spaces devoted to nature conservation. This paper throws light on the existence of a « new » category of space : intermediate space, the characteristics of which have still to be defined. The geographical configuration of such spaces can be described as a « territorial patchwork », while from a political viewpoint, they are characterised by conflicting issues, innovation and specific dynamics. An analysis of local stakeholders' representations of these spaces (e.g. regarding the weight and role of agriculture) provides further insight into this notion.

The peri-urban area : Nature's third space: By reflecting on the what is really at stake in the protection of sensitive natural areas on the peripheries of metropolitan zones, this article, based on a programme of research and action undertaken within the framework of INTERREG III-B, examines not only the idea of nature, as construed in the public policies of most major urban regions, but also that of a « third space » as a way of reconceptualising the peri-urban phenomenon. The analysis leads us to suggest putting Nature back in its rightful place : at the heart of the search for regional identity in « metropolised » areas which are half town and half country, yet neither town nor country.

Agriculture versus economic development : an unequal fight or a question of new policies for the peri-urban area. From an economic point of view, agriculture is an activity of relatively minor importance in the Grenoble urban region, a region above all renowned for its strong technological development. However, in the regions master plan approved in 2000, farming occupies an essential position. To understand the role of peri-urban agriculture in the preparation of the development plan for the urban region, it is important to specify the different functions that have been assigned to it and to analyse the diverse ways that agriculture has been taken into account in the preparation of regional plans at both the communal and inter- communal level. Agriculture is a key issue in peri-urban planning policies, involving local government officials, planners, and representatives of the farming community.

Agriculture and the city in search of a new common territorialized entity. The examples of metropolitan Rennes and the Grenoble urban region. In the urban tradition, agricultural areas are often seen as a ready supply of available land. Our approach, however, seeks to show the original role played by agriculture in the emergence of urban territorial processes that transcend the borders of communes, by reference to two experiments considered as symbolic : the Grenoble urban region and the Rennes metropolitan area (Rennes Métropole). The regulatory function which is implicitly or explicitly allocated to farming within emerging urban territories has shaken up traditional politics. Local actors within cities and suburbs who have made themselves spokespersons for a new conception of urban development, often with disregard for institutional borders, have tried to reintroduce agriculture in the debate on the city, putting forth new arguments. The principle of urban control through the protection of farming areas is therefore linked with attempts to build a new, common territorialized entity while at the same time examining both the conditions for its perpetuation and its spread within other urban areas.