Des villes en réseau, aux réseaux de villes. Nouvelles solidarités, nouveaux territoires et impact des télécommunications

As the opening of Europe approaches, France -and Europe itself-find themselves undergoing a general territorial repolarization, with new urban policies emerging, based on a network of "inter-town solidarity". This concept is the finit of an economic, social and cultural development policy wherein the elected representatives of a number of towns in a given area or region choose to work together in defining the specific and complementary characteristics each can bring to that region. To reach this definition of specialities and create "competence poles", to recognize complementary in order to harmonize the State's infrastructure investments and strengthen international functions as the Single European Market approaches, such a goal requires that the objective reality of this interdependence and solidarity be clearly stated and "quantified". If the flow of people is in this respect an invaluable yardstick, it is not, and must not be considered, the only indicator. The flows of telecommunications can not only confirm or invalidate certain favored links, but also, by qualitative analysis, give a clearer picture of the nature of these links (professional, administrative, private, etc), provided that quantitative and qualitative "source/destination" statistics are available offering greater detail than those currently furnished by flow measurement and collecting methods.Lavocat Éric. Des villes en réseau, aux réseaux de villes. Nouvelles solidarités, nouveaux territoires et impact des télécommunications. In: NETCOM : Réseaux, communication et territoires / Networks and Communication Studies, vol. 3 n°2, novembre 1989. pp. 381-403