INVEST

The project at a glance

Local Public Investment and Territorial Systems: sustainable development, local authorities and financial sustainability

Start year : 2018

End year : 2026

Scientific Director : Ludovic Halbert

Area of research : Politics, Markets, and Urban Worlds (PMMU)

in progress

Overview

Couverture La ville verte au pied du mur

Project overview

This research analyses the evolution of public environmental policy in France over the past fifteen years or so. In particular, it examines the implementation of ‘sustainable development’ and the ‘ecological transition’ as set out in the local political agenda. These priorities are being rolled out within an institutionalised framework characterised by the states’ dependence on the financial markets from which they borrow, and by the focus of European and national institutions on monitoring public finances in relation to the single currency. However, since the 2010s, austerity policies have been imposed on local authorities, which have also become their agents, keen to contribute to this objective of restoring public finances to health. This presents local elected representatives and officials responsible for environmental policies with a dilemma: reconciling greening – perceived as a ‘wall of investment’ – with compliance with increasingly stringent financial standards, ratios and targets. What are the drivers and effects of such an austerity policy on greening policies? How does this redefine urban governance? Following the post-Fordism of the 1990s and 2000s, are we witnessing the emergence of a new territorial regime?

Inside the intricacies of local budgets

To study this long-term evolution of public environmental policy, the research draws on the tools and analytical frameworks of geography, spatial planning, political economy and political ecology, as well as those of the political sociology of action and public finance. The research methodology is based on the use of ‘mixed’ methods. A typological study of the budgetary configurations of urban inter-municipal clusters, cross-referenced with the socio-territorial characteristics of these areas, enables us to identify the defining features of urban austerity as it is being implemented in mainland France. Six inter-municipal clusters, representative of the diversity of these configurations and thus allowing for generalisation, are the subject of a qualitative investigation. Various ‘nodes’ linking aspirations for ecological sustainability and budgetary frugality are analysed: budgetary practices, organisational structures and administrative routines, investment policies, the management of public assets and, finally, strategies for securing funding for projects designed to be ‘green’. In addition to this, focus groups are organised with elected representatives, technical staff and experts in order to enrich and consolidate the findings.

Results: Environmental policies in the context of fiscal consolidation

The research reveals the roll-out of a new territorial regime of fiscal consolidation. Local authorities are evolving not only to implement cross-cutting environmental policies, but also to consolidate their accounts, by navigating funding competitions and forging partnerships with better-capitalised public and private funders. This is accompanied by a screening and recalibration of environmental policies according to their compliance with the standards and ratios that underpin a regime of fiscal consolidation. Thus, the greening of urban policies under austerity takes the form of a patchwork of ad hoc measures, dependent on funding opportunities – in other words, a ‘piecemeal’ approach to environmental policy.

Scientific output

The research has resulted in around ten publications and as many academic papers. An article published in the political sociology journal Politix explores the redefinition of relations between central government and local authorities in the context of local account consolidation, by examining a controversy over budgetary standards that reflects an intergovernmental balance of power. Another article, published in the international journal Regional Studies, explores the geographies of local austerity. It demonstrates the widespread yet diverse nature of this phenomenon, particularly in relation to specific socio-territorial characteristics. Finally, the book based on this research, published in 2026 by Presses de Sciences Po, presents the findings of a decade-long study highlighting how the regime of budgetary consolidation shapes environmental policies and places the ‘green city with its back against the wall’.

Project Team

Coordinator

Ludovic Halbert, CNRS, LATTS

Scientific Director

Ludovic Halbert

Participants

  • Félix Adisson, Latts
  • Francesca Artioli, Lab’Urba
  • Marie Bigorgne, Latts
  • Guilhem Boulay, Espace
  • Amélie Deschamps, Latts
  • Marion Ernwein, Open University
  • Daniel Florentin, Latts
  • Matthieu Gimat, Université Paris
  • Antoine Grandclement, TELEMME
  • Maxime Huré, CDED
  • Vincent Lasserre-Bigorry, Lab’Urba
  • Clémence Legros, Latts
  • Nicolas Maisetti, LAVUE
  • Françoise Navarre, Lab’Urba

Funding and partnerships

Funding sources

  • ANR – AGENCE NATIONALE DE LA RECHERCHE (ANR-18-CE22-000)

Partners

  • LAB’URBA
  • ESPACE
  • CDED
  • TELEMME

Valuation

Publications

  • Adisson Félix, Halbert Ludovic and Maisetti Nicolas, ‘Urban austerity in the suburbs: fiscal consolidation, urban development coalitions and thwarted social mix’, in Francesca Artioli and Patrick Le Galès (eds.), The Paris Metropolis: Organised Anarchy, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2023, pp. 249–272.
  • Artioli, Francesca, Florentin, Daniel and Maisetti, Nicolas, ‘Financial contractualisation between the State and local authorities: the controversy over the two forms of public expenditure’, *Politix*, 38 (149), 2025, pp. 51–72.
  • Bigorgne, Marie, ‘Austerity: The Everyday Economics of Local Budgets’, in Matthieu Adam and Émeline Comby (eds.), Capital in the City: A Critical Encyclopaedia of the City, Paris, Éditions Amsterdam, 2020, pp. 77–87.
  • Grandclement, Antoine; Halbert, Ludovic; Adisson, Félix; Lasserre-Bigorry, Vincent; and Navarre, Françoise, ‘The Geographies of Local Austerity Policies. A Quantitative Analysis of Local Budgets in France’, *Regional Studies*, 58 (12), 2024, pp. 2353–2367.
  • Ludovic Halbert, Félix Adisson, Francesca Artioli and Nicolas Maisetti, *The City with its Back to the Wall*. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 2026, 342 pp.
  • Halbert Ludovic, Adisson Félix, Drozdz Martine, Lasserre-Bigorry Vincent and Navarre Françoise, ‘Local public investment in the face of tightening budgetary constraints: an analysis based on the diversity of budgetary configurations within the local government sector (2010–2018)’, report submitted to the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, 2021.
  • Halbert Ludovic, Bigorgne Marie, Ferlazzo Edoardo and Maisetti Nicolas, Local Policies and Fiscal Consolidation: An Analysis of Public Investment by the Municipal Sector, report submitted to the Local Finance Network, 2022, 209 pp.
  • Nicolas Maisetti, ‘A Greater Paris regional public body caught between budgetary constraints and institutional struggles: the case of Est-Ensemble’, Revue française d’administration publique, 178 (2), 2021, pp. 401–416.

Papers

  • Adisson Félix, Artioli Francesca, Gimat Matthieu, Halbert Ludovic, ‘Greening funding channels, greening local policies? The use of “green windows” in four French inter-municipal bodies’. 16th National Congress of the French Political Science Association, July 2022, Lille, France.
  • Adisson Félix and Halbert Ludovic, ‘Urban policies and trends in urban development policies’, Seminar on Sustainable Urban Development in the Face of Coastal Residentialisation, Aix-en-Provence, 16 November 2018.
  • Adisson Félix and Halbert Ludovic, ‘Urban policies and fiscal austerity’, RT9 Conference of the French Sociological Association, Marseille, 18–19 October 2018.
  • Adisson Félix, Halbert Ludovic, Maisetti Nicolas, Bigorgne Matthieu, Lasserre-Bigorry Véronique and Navarre François, ‘Fiscal Consolidation and Urban Development Policies. An inner-suburban area of the Île-de-France region under austerity’, Joint seminar of the Labex Dynamite and Futurs Urbains, Champs-sur-Marne, 10 October 2019.
  • Artioli Francesca, Florentin Daniel, Maisetti Nicolas, ‘Contractualisation: a new tool for controlling local authority expenditure?’, Conferences on ‘Changes in the State and Local Public Finances’, University of Amiens, 7 September 2021.
  • Adisson Félix, Ernwein Marion, Gimat Matthieu, ‘The ecological transition under budgetary constraints in a medium-sized French town (Cahors)’, PMMU/LATTS Research Group Seminar, 5 June 2023.
  • Adisson Félix, Ernwein Marion and Gimat Matthieu, ‘The ecological transition under budgetary constraints: how green are local authorities’ urban policies in France?’, Workshop to present and discuss the findings of the INVEST academic research project, Cahors, Maurice Faure University Centre, 6 June 2023.
  • Adisson Félix, Halbert Ludovic and Maisetti Nicolas, ‘Land rent in the name of social diversity? Urban development policies under budgetary constraints in regions with a legacy of municipal socialism’, 4th conference of the International Network on the Production of Space, Saint-Étienne, June 2023.
  • Adisson Félix, Artioli, ‘Fiscal consolidation and the green transition: where do the tensions lie?’, 4th Meeting of the Île-de-France Regional Chamber of Accounts, ‘Towards more environmentally friendly local public action. Financial levers, organisation of public services, sustainable procurement policies’, Paris School of Urban Planning, 24 October 2024.
  • Artioli, Francesca and Halbert, Ludovic, ‘Understanding urban austerity: The greening of public policy under financial constraints’, Social Justice Seminar, PACTE, Grenoble, 28 March 2024.
  • Artioli, Francesca, Florentin, Daniel and Maisetti, Nicolas, ‘The “Cahors Contracts”, the principle of public expenditure control and financial relations between the State and local authorities’, Paper presented to the Research Group on Budgetary Affairs, Paris, 17 September 2020.
  • Halbert, Ludovic, ‘Urban Studies and Austerity. Preliminary reflections’, Joint seminar of the Labex Dynamite and Futurs Urbains, Champs-sur-Marne, 10 October 2019.
  • Ludovic Halbert, ‘Austerity programmes, budgetary adjustments and the transformation of urban spaces and governance’, LISER seminar, Luxembourg, 5 May 2019.
  • Halbert Ludovic and Nicolas Maisetti, ‘Inter-institutional restructuring in Greater Paris in the light of budgetary constraints’, Conference on ‘Financial constraints, merger policies, multi-level governance. The challenges of territorial reform’, Rennes, 13 June 2019.

Medias

  • Le courrier des maires, 2026, ‘Favourite: After the local elections, is the environment under greater threat from austerity than from a change of government?’, Vu, lu, entendu, 388, April–May, p. 26.
  • Le Moniteur, 2026, ‘Research. The green city under the scrutiny of medical professionals’, Transition Survey. Green Spaces, 10 April, p. 18.
  • Nedey, Fabienne, 2026, ‘Interview. We are witnessing a piecemeal “greening”’, La Gazette des communes, 3 March.
  • Capodano Xavier, 2026, ‘Important book alert’
  • Muckensturm, Baptiste, ‘Public buildings: a burden for local authorities?’, Les enjeux territoriaux, France Culture, 4 January 2023 (guest: Félix Adisson)
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