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Comment la France a tué ses villes
Des vitrines vides et sombres, des façades aveugles, des stores métalliques baissés.
Que ce soit à Calais, Agen, Le Havre, Landerneau, Avignon ou Lunéville, la crise urbaine ronge les préfectures et sous-préfectures, les détruit de l'intérieur. Les boutiques abandonnées ne constituent que le symptôme le plus flagrant d'un phénomène plus large : la population stagne, les logements sont vacants, le niveau de vie baisse. Alors que se passe-t-il ?
Certes, la concurrence de la grande distribution en périphérie tue les commerces du centre-ville et des quartiers anciens, et sacrifie les emplois de proximité. Mais les modes de vie sont fortement liés aux modes de déplacement. Ainsi, au-delà de la dévitalisation urbaine, cet ouvrage observe les conséquences, sur le territoire, de la manière dont on se déplace. Partout, la voiture individuelle reste considérée comme une obligation, un dû. Or, parce qu'elle occupe de l'espace et allonge les distances, la motorisation contribue largement à l'asphyxie des villes.
Pour les revitaliser, il n'existe nulle solution miraculeuse, mais une série de petits pas, de décisions empreintes de sobriété.
Que ce soit à Calais, Agen, Le Havre, Landerneau, Avignon ou Lunéville, la crise urbaine ronge les préfectures et sous-préfectures, les détruit de l'intérieur. Les boutiques abandonnées ne constituent que le symptôme le plus flagrant d'un phénomène plus large : la population stagne, les logements sont vacants, le niveau de vie baisse. Alors que se passe-t-il ?
Certes, la concurrence de la grande distribution en périphérie tue les commerces du centre-ville et des quartiers anciens, et sacrifie les emplois de proximité. Mais les modes de vie sont fortement liés aux modes de déplacement. Ainsi, au-delà de la dévitalisation urbaine, cet ouvrage observe les conséquences, sur le territoire, de la manière dont on se déplace. Partout, la voiture individuelle reste considérée comme une obligation, un dû. Or, parce qu'elle occupe de l'espace et allonge les distances, la motorisation contribue largement à l'asphyxie des villes.
Pour les revitaliser, il n'existe nulle solution miraculeuse, mais une série de petits pas, de décisions empreintes de sobriété.
- GenresNonfiction
188 pages, Broché
First published October 1, 2016
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 3, 2020
Excellent, solid analysis of the decline of small town centres in France, which will come as something of a surprise to anyone who - like myself - perhaps holds an image of France in their head where the town centre cheese shop and the bakery were, I thought, still in good shape. Seems there's a 'crise de vitrines' that in some ways is more stark than in the UK, given the position of comparative strength of small commerce until the 80s and 90s in France.
On consideration, it occurs to me that, yes, the French do love their Carrefours and their cars every bit as much as the Anglo-Saxones - and they have the relative luxury of space that has allowed strip malls and out of town shopping hubs to flourish. It happens because, as in the UK, the out of town and the mega supermarket are often held up as a sign of progress and job-creator (this is contested), particularly salient in depressed former industrial towns. To be a mayor that brought Hicksville its Hicksville Ouest is to win plaudits and is to be seen as making a difference. It's tempting and it suggests you're actually doing something. Meanwhile, towns of great architectural charm and character have been losing their soul and are often just places to get a kebab and a terrible tattoo. It's impossible (whether this matters is another question) to buy a drill bit in a small town. The 'commerce de bouche' - food, restaurants, etc - is also barely there too.
I'm one of those free market capitalists who tries to avoid falling for the romance of the small trader and the default tendency of the metropolitan to dislike big commerce. Thing is, people want to get their shopping done all in one go; they want to be able to sit in their cars and listen to their own music; they don't want to hang around for twenty minutes in the rain waiting for the fun bus to take them from a Park'n'Ride into town. I'm also deeply suspicious of the hyped fetishisation of crappy, Chomsky-merching indie bookshops. We sometimes treat independent bookshops like crumbling churches. They so often don't deserve that esteem.
Razemon presents a sensible list of measures for any town planner to consider - some superbly French (the walkalong mass study where a large group of flaneurs catalogue the fuck ups and failures - which I see everywhere in Stratford struggling to find the unsigned out theatre or the cinema round the back of a parking lot), to the cultural. It's curious to find positive examples even from the dreary UK (he's very taken by the pianos in stations like St Pancras). A lot of the solutions take one back to the All Time Must-Read Superstar of Urbanism, Jane Jacobs and her gloriously common sense views: mixed uses, non-commercial uses, giving people reasons to hang out and a sense that beauty and character are here. Making the most of the individual character that each town invariably has (I love Razemon's sweeping account of how X town is all about yellow brick / Y town is about the red citadel and Z town is all about slate).
Ultimately, it's about winning people back and bringing life and a sense of 'people' and unlikely meetings back to the town. It's also - tougher call - about getting lazy fuckers out of their cars and onto bikes and walking. The trouble with that: it's asking people to forfeit the great liberator, teleporter and temple of individualism that is the motor car. Until self-driving cars come on stream, that's a Big Demande, mon ami.
On consideration, it occurs to me that, yes, the French do love their Carrefours and their cars every bit as much as the Anglo-Saxones - and they have the relative luxury of space that has allowed strip malls and out of town shopping hubs to flourish. It happens because, as in the UK, the out of town and the mega supermarket are often held up as a sign of progress and job-creator (this is contested), particularly salient in depressed former industrial towns. To be a mayor that brought Hicksville its Hicksville Ouest is to win plaudits and is to be seen as making a difference. It's tempting and it suggests you're actually doing something. Meanwhile, towns of great architectural charm and character have been losing their soul and are often just places to get a kebab and a terrible tattoo. It's impossible (whether this matters is another question) to buy a drill bit in a small town. The 'commerce de bouche' - food, restaurants, etc - is also barely there too.
I'm one of those free market capitalists who tries to avoid falling for the romance of the small trader and the default tendency of the metropolitan to dislike big commerce. Thing is, people want to get their shopping done all in one go; they want to be able to sit in their cars and listen to their own music; they don't want to hang around for twenty minutes in the rain waiting for the fun bus to take them from a Park'n'Ride into town. I'm also deeply suspicious of the hyped fetishisation of crappy, Chomsky-merching indie bookshops. We sometimes treat independent bookshops like crumbling churches. They so often don't deserve that esteem.
Razemon presents a sensible list of measures for any town planner to consider - some superbly French (the walkalong mass study where a large group of flaneurs catalogue the fuck ups and failures - which I see everywhere in Stratford struggling to find the unsigned out theatre or the cinema round the back of a parking lot), to the cultural. It's curious to find positive examples even from the dreary UK (he's very taken by the pianos in stations like St Pancras). A lot of the solutions take one back to the All Time Must-Read Superstar of Urbanism, Jane Jacobs and her gloriously common sense views: mixed uses, non-commercial uses, giving people reasons to hang out and a sense that beauty and character are here. Making the most of the individual character that each town invariably has (I love Razemon's sweeping account of how X town is all about yellow brick / Y town is about the red citadel and Z town is all about slate).
Ultimately, it's about winning people back and bringing life and a sense of 'people' and unlikely meetings back to the town. It's also - tougher call - about getting lazy fuckers out of their cars and onto bikes and walking. The trouble with that: it's asking people to forfeit the great liberator, teleporter and temple of individualism that is the motor car. Until self-driving cars come on stream, that's a Big Demande, mon ami.
May 7, 2021
Intéressant panorama des villes qui meurent en France, de trop de voitures, de trop de centres commerciaux.
Je reste toutefois un peu sur ma faim sur les explications d'un tel phénomène; en particulier, pourquoi est-ce que dans d'autres pays ils s'en sortent mieux? Qu'est-ce qu'ils font de différent?
Je reste toutefois un peu sur ma faim sur les explications d'un tel phénomène; en particulier, pourquoi est-ce que dans d'autres pays ils s'en sortent mieux? Qu'est-ce qu'ils font de différent?
February 24, 2025
Un pamphlet contre les centres commerciaux et la voiture. Se base sur beaucoup d'exemples et d'ouvrages, avec une pointe d'amour pour les petits vollages et leur combat contre les industriels.
Un bon bouquin pour comprendre comment les mini-villes que construisent les centres commerciaux cannibalisent les petits commerces au lieu de les complementer
Il vous donne aussi envie d'arrêter de conduire partout
Un bon bouquin pour comprendre comment les mini-villes que construisent les centres commerciaux cannibalisent les petits commerces au lieu de les complementer
Il vous donne aussi envie d'arrêter de conduire partout
December 28, 2018
Un diagnostic fort intéressant du journaliste au Monde Olivier Razemon. Loin d'être une étude poussée et difficile à lire, ce livre se présente plutôt sous la forme d'une enquête, fluide et facile à lire, qui fera réfléchir le lecteur. Également une réflexion instructive lorsque l'on est expatrié dans un des pays "modèles" en terme de déplacements doux (dans mon cas, les Pays-Bas).
April 8, 2024
Excellente analyse de l'évolution (et la désertion) des villes par l'auteur.
Les exemples pour imager le processus qui a amené à ce constat/à cette situation sont très clairs et cela marque ! On a envie d'agir tout de suite pour inverser la tendance.
Un livre que tous/toutes les maires devraient avoir.
Bravo !
Les exemples pour imager le processus qui a amené à ce constat/à cette situation sont très clairs et cela marque ! On a envie d'agir tout de suite pour inverser la tendance.
Un livre que tous/toutes les maires devraient avoir.
Bravo !
November 28, 2020
Intéressant mais répétitif selon moi. 2 idées principales la grande surface tue le commerce de centre ville et la voiture bouleverse le centre ville. Une fois ces 2 idées décortiquées il n'y a que peu d'autres idées.
May 8, 2020
An interesting analysis of France being eaten away by large malls, and highways.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews