Circuler dans la ville sûre et durable : des politiques publiques contemporaines ambiguës, consensuelles et insoutenables

The two public policies dealt with in concert in this article do not have much in common from an institutional point of view. And yet, placing them side by side sheds light on the mechanisms through which certain heavy trends have been imposed in handling contemporary public problems. Indeed, transport and travel policy and road safety policy are part of a common outlook in which the quality of life, sustainability and safety come together, serving a safe environment without nuisances. The safe city has become a model to be achieved, a response to urban disorder, providing an attractive environment for the middle and upper classes and controlling uncivil behaviors. We demonstrate that the handling of these two public problems gives rise to ambiguous practices and rhetoric whose effectiveness and legitimacy can be questioned. By ignoring a certain number of macrosocial determinants, these public problems are depoliticized. Consequently, they give rise to socially untenable discourses and practices which stress individual responsibility alone and refer euphemistically to social relations