Heads:

Jean DEBRIE – Géographie-cités (UMR 8504)
Nora MAREÏ – Prodig : Pôle de Recherche pour l’Organisation et la Diffusion de l’Information Géographique (UMR 8586)

Presentation:

The Work-Package (WP) entitled “Perspectives on networks, infrastructures and services” deals with the contemporary challenge to the network’s “traditional” form, seen as a ranked set of centrally-run infrastructures for universal use. The aim is to update the new forms of networks and observe the local, differentiated version of various kinds of networks (transport, water, electricity, digital communications, wastewater system, etc.) on various scales and in a variety of contexts.

The WP’s objective is to undertake a multidisciplinary examination of the networks and their development, at the crossroads of history, geography, economics, urban planning and the various social sciences. The main focus of study will be the different variables that lead us to change the way we consider the question of the relationship between networks, infrastructures and territories in a variety of territorial contexts: the digital issue in the networks, environmental challenges in the networks, the reduction in size and the ageing of the networks, financing and the contribution of network enterprises to urban production, the legitimacy of the major infrastructures and the vulnerability of the networks.

The WP will also examine the question from the services perspective. The theme of the shrinking availability of services and businesses in small and medium-sized European towns with dwindling populations, and the issue of essential services (water, sanitation, electricity) in southern towns are therefore two key issues in the WP’s work.

In these different research areas, the WP endeavours to eliminate any partitioning of the analysis contexts by providing contrasting perspectives, in particular North and South viewpoints, on this question of the development of networks (the variables of change), services (expansion, shrinkage) and the associated infrastructures (the role of public action as an economic growth driver).

Keywords:

Networks, infrastructures, mobility, services, shrinkage, urban systems, logistics, public action, contrasting perspectives.

Research fields:

• Europe (in particular France, Germany and the United Kingdom);
• North America (in particular Canada);
• Africa – Maghreb (in particular Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and South Africa);
• Asia (in particular India, China and Japan).

Publications:

• AVELINE N., BLONDEAU G. 2019, “The political economy of transit value capture : the changing business model of the MTRC in Hong Kong”, Urban studies, Volume: 56 issue: 16, page(s): 3415-3431.
• BARLES S., GUILLERME A., 2014, “Paris : a history of water, sewers, and urban development”, p. 384-409, in : TvedtT., Oestigaard, T. (eds.). A History of Water, Series 3, Vol. 1. From Jericho to Cities in the Seas : A History of Urbanization and Water Systems,. Londres : IB Tauris.
• BERROIR S., FOL S., QUÉVA C., SANTAMARIA F., (2019), “Villes moyennes et dévitalisation des centres : les politiques publiques face aux enjeux d’égalité territoriale”, Belgeo, Vol. 3, pp.
• BRÈS A., 2015, Les figures discrètes de l’urbain, à la rencontre des réseaux et des territoires, MétisPresses, Genève, 172 pages.
• BRETAGNOLLE A., FRANC A., 2017, “Emergence of an integrated city-system in France (XVIIth–XIXth centuries): evidence from toolset in graph theory”, Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 50-1, pp. 49-65.
• CRIQUI L., ZERAH MH., 2010, “Lost in transition ? Comparing strategies of electricity companies in Delhi.”, Energy Policy, 78 (March), 179-188
• DE BERCEGOL R., 2015, “L’assainissement d’une grande métropole en développement : l’échec des tuyaux à Delhi”, Urbanités, N°6, la ville et les tuyaux, en ligne.
• FOL S., GALLEZ C., (2017), “Evaluer les inégalités sociales d’accès aux ressources. Intérêt d’une approche fondée sur l’accessibilité”, Revue Internationale d’Urbanisme, N°4.
• LOMBARD J., 2015, Le monde des transports sénégalais – ancrage local et développement international, IRD éditions.
• MAREÏ N., DEBRIE J. et LOMBARD J., 2019, “Sur la route des métropoles logistiques du Sud. L’exemple de Casablanca”, Urbanités, #11 / Bouger en ville, en ligne.
• MAULAT J., PAULHIAC-SCHERRER F., SCHERRER F., 2018, “Les projets novateurs de Transit-oriented development dans le Grand Montréal : conception, mise en œuvre et effets d’un nouvel instrument d’urbanisme”, Métropoles, n°23.
• NINOT O., PEYROUX E. 2019, “De la « smart city » au numérique généralisé : la géographie urbaine au défi du tournant numérique”, L’Information géographique 2019/2 (Vol. 83).
• SCHIRRER M., “Le réseau numérique, source de polycentrisme ?”, Parole publique, 2013, 2 pages
• HEITZ A., LAUNAY P., BEZIAT A., (2019) Heterogeneity of Logistics Facilities: An Issue for a Better Understanding and Planning of the Location of Logistics Facilities, European Transport Research Review, 11:5, [En ligne à l’adresse : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12544-018-0341-5 ]