Add to ORKGInternational audienceThe "dense city" is a well accepted concept. "Rurbanization", on the contrary, is often criticized despite the fact that a vast majority of people prefer to live in an individual home, close to nature,outside the cities. This paper deals with the causes and consequences of rurbanization and their contradictions: individual desire for nature and environmental preservation, research for quality of family life and sustainable urbanization, accessibility and rurban dispersion...Urban policies have now to include, not only urban processes, but a global perspective and governance, to better integrate cities and countryside.Si la " ville dense " est un concept bien accepté, celui de " rurbanisation " et de périurbanisation so...