Contenu du sommaire

Beyond the measurement of the urban well-being: which perception of quality of life in the European cities?
While numerous researches in the scientific literature are focused on the well-being subject in cities using objective indicators, there is still few published works today focusing on the subjective dimension concerning the local people's satisfaction towards their urban environment. The issue of quality of life plays an increasing role in a context of growing competition between cities. The latter are regularly assert their strengths on it to attract new residents. The objective of this article is to propose a comparative study of the urban quality of life across EU cities based on the Urban Audit. More precisely, our article analyses the existence of a spatial differentiation of the perceived quality of life by the inhabitants by proposing a multi-dimensional approach of this question. The subsequent construction of a composite index and a typology of European cities for 2006 and 2012 clearly shows a geography of the quality of life at European level and the influence of the socio-economic and territorial condition in that perception. However, there are also a number of cities in our sample with good results for some indicators and non-performing results for others raising questions as to the role of public policies for urban development.

The “valuation milieu”: Toward a territorial approach to sustainability transitions
During the last decade research in Transition Studies has highlighted the complex and multidimensional dynamics involved in the transformation towards new socio-technical regimes of sustainable development. However, existing analysis have often neglected the territorial dimension of such transformations. To deal more explicitly with this dimension, this article proposes the concept of ‘milieu valuateur'. Through a case analysis in the field of energy in the Swiss municipality of Neuchâtel, this article illustrates how the reterritorialization of productive capacities at a city scale enables to reconstruct a higher value through demonstration.

The logistics issues in urban and regional planning in the Paris Region and Paris Metropolitan Area (Greater Paris): growing public policies interest versus lack of achievement at local scale?
Logistics issues are introduced recently but increasingly in the various planning documents at metropolitan scale. The increasing number of research on this topic enlightens the part play by the logistics activities in the metropolitan development and public policies in Europe or North America. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the general discussion by describing the introduction of the logistics issues in urban planning and urban programming in the Paris Region and Paris Metropolitan Area (Greater Paris). The analysis of this actual planning document like contracts, charters, and experiments, reveals a double inconstancy: an increasing interest for the logistics sector in the urban planning document and in the general objectives defined by the public policies, but a lack of achievement at local scale. Our analysis also reveals the lack of interest for logistics activities in the plans of the Greater Paris. According this paradox we could ask what part logistics activities play in a sustainable urban development based on a functional mix and promoted by the public policies themselves.

The social economy of the Bas-Saint-Laurent: its impact on the emergence of a model of progressive territorial development
The Bas-Saint-Laurent is one of the six major outlying regions of Quebec. Although the restructuring of its economy has facilitated its repositioning on the provincial scene in recent years, this region is still characterized by the persistence of socio-economic disparities aggravated by population decline in many localities. Just as can be seen across the province, many regional players turned to the social economy in order to give a boost to the economy of this region. Do these social economy enterprises of the Bas-Saint-Laurent set the conditions for progressive territorial development? The aim of this paper is to assess the social and economic contributions of social economy enterprises to development in the Bas-Saint-Laurent. This is done in terms of the social representations of the managers of 129 companies: the analysis is performed by distinguishing certain geographic and socio-economic differences between rural and urban areas. The result is a cartographic typology of the localities in the Bas-Saint-Laurent based on the contribution of social economy enterprises to social and economic development.

Territorial development in the face of energy transition. The case of wood biomass in Southwest France
This paper examines the creation of local renewable energy initiatives, using the example of wood biomass in the Aquitaine area of Southwest France. Our approach uses theoretical tools taken from the specific resources approach, as well as proximity economics. We show how several cases of wood biomass projects in Aquitaine rely on the creation of specific resources which are provided through various forms of proximity. Such examples cover a variety of places and energy uses. We identify possible contradictions between the objectives supported by territorial development on the one hand and energy transition on the other hand.

The variety of territorial anchor strategies from the firms of the Doubly Green Chemistry
In their transition strategies towards a bio-based chemistry that should be economically and ecologically sustainable (or “doubly green chemistry”), firms developing research and development strategies are implementing heterogeneous territorial anchorage strategies. In this paper, we study four representative firms to highlight how they are developing their anchoring logic in territories. We demonstrate that the logic of the anchoring strategies, in the cases studied, is linked to national strategies. When it is not the case, it results – and underlines – the fragility of the business model of the firm.