Land use and soils disposal: From competition to territorial governance (examples from land use conflicts in the greater Paris region)

Abstract

AbstractRural, natural and peri-urban areas seem nowadays to become the object of conflicts and tensions because of their multi-functional nature. If these conflicts issue from opposing views about the use of land, they are also determined by the spatial parameters that characterize the pieces of land affected by the projects of land-use transformation, and by the antagonistic relationship between two or several units of action (farmers and local planners, for example). Therefore, there is a need for a new management of rural (and peri-urban) areas, and this is the role of territorial governance, which is the engine of local development, and the tool for better local compromises, involving periods of opposition and streams of negotiation. Territorial governance has to take into account not only negotiations but conflict relations as well and to include both interaction schemes into its framework. Our study assesses the role played by conflicts in land use within a peri-urban context, based on studies on the Greater Paris region, and a case study on the use of agricultural soils on the urban fringe.