Since the early 2010s, the term ‘daily-use’ has replaced ‘suburb’ in certain political discourse to refer to local railway stations in the Île-de-France region. Unlike ‘sensitive neighbourhoods’ or ‘urban areas’, the expression ‘everyday stations’ appears, at first glance, to be much more of a new, fashionable turn of phrase than an established political or administrative category.

Nevertheless, this issue has emerged in the public debate at a particular juncture – against the backdrop of the Grand Paris Express project – as if spurred on by a number of stakeholders whose strategies and ideals appear, at first glance, to converge, and is accompanied by a wave of construction work that is quite unprecedented in the stations of these networks.
Furthermore, the ‘everyday’ cannot be equated with the same images or values as the ‘suburbs’.

In this respect, this shift cannot be considered coincidental. Drawing on an analysis of the representations conveyed by various forms of narratives from stakeholders on the one hand, and an exploration of the stations and the projects concerning them in the Seine Aval region on the other, this thesis aims to reveal the ruptures that enable the emergence of ‘everyday’ stations as a new category within Greater Paris, the meanings that run through it, and the transformations it entails. Its ambition is thus to discuss more broadly the imaginary functions of categorisation in the construction of urban spaces.

In doing so, this study offers a fresh perspective on the contemporary history of urban planning in the Île-de-France region through the lens of ‘everyday life’, and from this angle reveals certain shifts in the relationship between transport and urban planning stakeholders and the ‘suburbs’ and their inhabitants, as well as in the professional divisions and power dynamics at play.

Members of the jury

• Xavier Desjardins, University Professor, Paris-Sorbonne University
• Jacques Peynot, Director of Stations for the Île-de-France region, SNCF (guest)
• Antoine Picon, Research Director, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Director)
• Paola Pucci, Professor, Politecnico di Milano (rapporteur)
• Olivier Ratouis, University Professor, University of Paris-Nanterre (rapporteur)
• Nathalie Roseau, Associate Professor, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (co-supervisor)

Europe’s major urban infrastructure networks – whether water or district heating networks – face a twofold challenge: adapting to a general demographic decline that limits the number of users, and a overall reduction in individual consumption. My PhD project seeks to gain an insider’s understanding of the adaptation strategies implemented by the companies managing these networks, in order to better identify their functional transformation and assess its effects on the areas they serve. The aim is to examine this transformation through a critical analysis of Marvin and Graham’s theory of ‘splintering urbanism’.

This thesis analyses how the financialisation of real estate, as exemplified by Listed Real Estate Investment Companies (SIICs), on the one hand, and sustainable development, on the other, point to the social construction of new frameworks. The question is whether or not they are compatible with one another, and what compromises and convergence of interests their tension gives rise to. The aim of this work is also to examine how they interact in the shaping of the city. The study of each of these concepts is not yet established, and part of the thesis work has consisted of clarifying what defines their use.

Indeed, we approach the subject of our research through the lens of management sciences, drawing in particular on theories of financial value creation and corporate governance, and through the analysis of valuation and reporting tools. Here, sustainable development is viewed more as a market for ‘standards’ that guarantee a building’s environmental quality. We hypothesise that property companies are compelled by public policy on sustainable development to adopt various strategies: to anticipate it, comply with it, circumvent it, or reinterpret it.

Sustainable development can thus also be understood in terms of new rules of the game, values and personal beliefs. This thesis demonstrates that corporate risk management and strategic opportunism are part of the interplay between the financialisation of commercial property and the implementation of measures influenced by the concept of sustainable urban development. New forms of intervention, regulation and social compromise have emerged.

Introduced in France in 1976, the ‘Avoid, Reduce, Compensate’ (ERC) framework imposes significant constraints on land-use planning. This system adds a further stage to the planning process, involves intermediaries, and may even partially alter the planning project. Given that ecological compensation is specifically compensation in kind, it also has significant spatial implications, particularly on local land transactions (both within and outside the market). As a necessary element for implementing compensation, land is de facto brought to the forefront. Indeed, compensation sites, with a new use in the medium or long term, are created. Local planning conditions are consequently altered.

This research examines the implementation of the ERC sequence as a public policy measure, analysing the strategies and practices of practitioners on the ground who have to work within the constraints imposed by the standard.

To examine the changes brought about by this regulatory requirement, a process-based approach has been adopted, focusing on three main stages: the construction of the standard itself (the ‘standardisation’ phase), its translation into an operational tool through the establishment of equivalence agreements (the ‘equivalence’ phase) and its integration into the planning and land market (the ‘market integration’ phase). Each of these three stages has implications for the production of space and places constraints on future development projects.

An analysis of these processes reveals discrepancies between the standard’s overarching objectives and its operational implementation, which tends to narrow and diminish the scope of the biodiversity components taken into account. The thesis focuses on the negotiations and power dynamics that influence the operationalisation of the framework, as well as the narrowing of the definition of biodiversity at each of the three stages. These interpretations and adaptations are necessary given the difficulties practitioners encounter in applying the standard. In addition to the difficulty of grasping the concept of biodiversity, practitioners face land tenure challenges, which lead certain actors (project developers, intermediaries, landowners) to adapt their land strategies.

This study, which employs a qualitative methodology, draws on a range of empirical data: extensive exploratory fieldwork that helped to refine the central research question and hypotheses; interviews with project owners, intermediaries and government departments; and a case study focusing on two urban development projects in a medium-sized French town.

• Sabine Barles, University Professor, University of Paris 1, Rapporteur
• Olivier Coutard, Research Director at the CNRS, PhD supervisor
• Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste, Professor at AgroPrisTech, Examiner
• Harold Levrel, Professor at AgroParisTech, Examiner
• Sylvain Pioch, Senior Lecturer (HDR), University of Montpellier III

In recent years, ‘green’ hydrogen has been touted as a ‘miracle solution’ for the energy transition that could spark an ‘industrial and energy revolution’. The aim of this thesis is to put the idea of a ‘green hydrogen revolution’ into perspective. It seeks to examine the changes in infrastructure, practices and governance that the introduction of this energy carrier may bring about within the French energy system. With this in mind, the thesis seeks to describe the deployment of hydrogen in France and its regions from the 2010s to early 2022, through two dimensions: multi-level governance and socio-technical controversies. Considering that the trajectory of hydrogen is the result of a techno-economic construct, the thesis examines how actors at different levels approach the subject and the strategies that emerge from this.

To account for our analysis at the interface between socio-technical and socio-political approaches, we draw on the concept of socio-technical configuration. This concept describes more or less stable trans-scalar assemblages of heterogeneous elements around which networks of actors form, giving rise to different conceptions of how to plan their deployment.
This thesis demonstrates that hydrogen does not herald a ‘revolution’ for the French energy sector. The technical and economic difficulties encountered, the successive challenges raised, and the re-appropriation of the issue by traditional players in the energy sector are all factors that contribute to reducing the scope for more radical transformation.

Members of the jury:
Anne-Cécile Douillet, University Professor, CERAPS; Rapporteur:
Thomas Reverdy, University Professor, PACTE; Rapporteur:
Annabelle Brisse, PhD, EIFER until 31 December 2021, then Hynamics; Examiner:
Alain Nadai, Research Director, CIRED Examiner
François-Mathieu Ppupeau, Research Director, LATTS Thesis supervisor
Caroline Gallez, Research Director, Université Gustave Eiffel Co-supervisor

The possibility of disasters compels us to rethink progressive, yet non-linear definitions (or ‘instauration’, to use Souriau’s terminology) of risk, space and expertise. Adopting a symmetrical approach, this work explores several shifting dimensions of the subject and of ‘at-risk’ space in the San Francisco Bay Area, within the shared experience of an epistemic community awaiting a major earthquake – ‘the Big One’. From the perspective of geography and science and technology studies, we will examine the complex system of relationships that co-construct seismic risk, as well as the way in which this successive instauration brings about transformations in the fabrication of space, the definition of risk and, finally, the translation of this scientific work into public policy and the figure of the expert.

Drawing on extensive empirical research conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area, and analysing the community of ‘Earthquake Junkies’ – as these experts have dubbed themselves – as well as other risk-aware residents, this work highlights the role of experience and emotion in a multitude of intertwined processes linking risk, space and expertise.

Further exploration of this issue will show that the rigid definitions which have pitted science against experience, rationality against emotion, and expertise against lay perception should be rethought in favour of a more systematic approach that takes into account the role of the various dimensions of knowledge. With a view to gaining a better understanding of the complex definition of risk in the public sphere, this research also proposes a framework for reflecting on the definition of the ‘at-risk’ subject, whilst facilitating reflection on the establishment of a closer relationship between scientific and non-scientific knowledge.

This thesis examines the practices involved in integrating risk prevention policies and crisis management practices at the local level. Whilst the cyclical frameworks promoted by disaster prevention encourage a coherent approach to all actions aimed at mitigating their effects, public action to ‘cope with’ risks and crises remains extremely fragmented in France. Regulations, tools and actors responsible for risk prevention coexist with those preparing for the onset of crises. By tracking the activities of the main local actors addressing these issues at the urban area level (staff of inter-municipal bodies and decentralised state services), the analysis highlights the existence of areas of shared practice, describing their emergence and effects.

Integration is first examined from the perspective of the political sociology of local authorities and organisations. These bodies envisage and practise integration in very different ways: on the one hand, through the institutionalisation of collaboration between departments, and on the other, through the development of an integrated approach based on an endo-urban definition of risks (Gralepois 2008). Integration is then examined through the interplay of public policy instruments and other local socio-technical mechanisms. These interplay, negotiated between local actors, ultimately transforms the way in which risks and crises are integrated into urban systems.

This thesis places local government officials and their actions at the heart of the analysis. However, by exploring the common ground between risk prevention and crisis management practices, the thesis also aims to highlight the continuities and overlaps between the concepts of risk and crisis.

Composition of the jury

• Olivier Borraz, Research Director, CNRS Sciences Po (Rapporteur)
• Mathilde Gralepois, Senior Lecturer, University of Tours (Rapporteur)
• Gilles Jeannot, Research Director, ENPC (Examiner)
• Andrew Lakoff, Professor, University of Southern California (Examiner)
• Valérie November, Research Director, CNRS (PhD supervisor)
• Magali Reghezza-Zitt, Senior Lecturer, École normale supérieure (Examiner)

This thesis examines the roll-out of anaerobic digestion in the Île-de-France region to shed light on the issues at stake in the schemes being developed in the name of the ‘green city’. Also known as ‘anaerobic digestion’, this process of breaking down organic matter in the absence of air produces a gaseous mixture and digestate, a kind of humus. Its multifunctional nature (waste management, energy production, compost production), its significant flexibility (in terms of technical intensity, inputs and uses) and, above all, the dual environmental promise (as a method of producing so-called renewable energy or as a tool for the circular economy) with which anaerobic digestion can be associated make it a preferred technique for those interested in environmental issues in the broadest sense.

By analysing diverse processes of framing, mobilisation and engagement in the Île-de-France region, as well as the trajectory of different types of arrangements, the thesis demonstrates the primacy of those visions and mechanisms most compatible with the energy system, particularly those associated with major gas networks. It also demonstrates that the interplay between waste management and energy production is not self-evident and is subject to tensions. Beyond these two issues, the thesis highlights the multiple ‘spillover effects’ of the development of anaerobic digestion in environmental terms (water and soil quality, etc.) and socio-economic terms (associated agricultural model).

The issue of the energy transition is now at the top of the political agenda. The aim of this thesis is to examine the emergence of a new electricity model, to identify its characteristics, and to determine whether it represents an alternative to the centralised model.

By combining three analytical perspectives – institutional, technological and territorial – she demonstrates that this centralised model has had its day. A series of changes has profoundly transformed the electricity system in terms of both its physical structure and its organisation: liberalisation, distributed generation, political decentralisation, etc. The new configuration that is emerging is hybrid. It is the result of tensions between, on the one hand, innovations bringing about significant socio-technical changes and, on the other, mechanisms of political-administrative centralisation and technical-economic concentration. The state has lost its hegemony but not its centrality, even as the sector has diversified (in terms of players and technologies) and electricity has become widespread throughout society (access to generation, legislative processes, etc.). Neither the EU’s thwarted rise in competence, nor liberalisation, nor the emergence of local authorities have completely undermined its ability to position itself at the centre of the sector’s regulation. Its approach is at once selective (withdrawal from day-to-day operations), inclusive (renewable energy, local authorities), diffuse (funding, R&D, legislation, etc.) and, at times, interventionist (shareholding, pricing, transmission and distribution networks, etc.).

In a liberal context, the State adapts through pragmatic reform of its activities and the controlled integration of alternative approaches. This ‘tamed liberalism’ corresponds to a decentralisation of public energy policy, within which local authorities are asserting themselves through a process that is both bottom-up and top-down. These local authorities are, on the one hand, primarily through the EPCIs and regional councils, establishing themselves as essential partners of the state in the implementation and management of a variety of sub-national processes and technical mechanisms.

On the other hand, they wish to assert themselves in this sector and have operational levers at their disposal to do so (concessions, planning, support for renewable energy, information, etc.). This process of taking ownership remains partial and uneven today, but represents a strong trend that is making the local level the new frontier for the sector, including for the State, which is adapting its administrative organisation to the regional level. A process of local authority empowerment, of a legal nature, is therefore underway, organised by the State and falling under the remit of autonomous energy management, which cannot be reduced to the development of energy production capacity. The new boundaries resulting from this empowerment lead to an arrangement of institutional territories that do not fundamentally call into question the national level or the role of the State. This hybrid configuration depends on the terms of production development, which are subject to technical and economic concentration mechanisms specific to the electricity grid industry, its context, and spatial and territorial logics dependent on infrastructural parameters. This is demonstrated by the counter-intuitive deployment of distributed generation, which takes the form of a hybrid centralised/decentralised model, resulting from the interaction between forms of control and specific socio-technical conditions (spatialisation, logics of scale, concentration of actors, etc.). The emerging configuration combines elements of disruption/decentralisation and continuity/centralisation. Given the significance of future developments – ICT, storage – this likely represents only one stage in a long journey towards a new energy model.

Members of the jury

• Sabine Barles (University of Paris I)
• Olivier Coutard (LATTS, PhD supervisor)
• Gilles Debizet (University of Grenoble Alpes)
• Jérôme Dubois (Aix-Marseille University)
• Alberto Pasanisi (EIFER)
• François-Mathieu Poupeau (LATTS).

Urbanisation in Tunisia has continued to grow at a rapid pace, resulting in territorial imbalances and the establishment of a planning system whose limitations have been the subject of several studies. It is against this backdrop that, over the past two decades, strategic planning has begun to be introduced into urban policy in Tunisia under the banner of the ‘City Development Strategy’ (CDS). The aim is to define a vision for the city, broken down into strategic objectives, the implementation of which will be ensured through concrete actions. The development of these SDVs involves various stakeholders (public sector actors, civil society, experts, etc.) and takes an integrated approach to different dimensions (spatial, economic, social, etc.).
Drawing on the cases of Tunis, Sfax, Sousse and Jendouba—two of which were developed before the Tunisian Spring and the other two after—this thesis aims to test hypotheses treating these SDVs as reflections of changes in governance.
We examined the four strategic planning processes in Tunis, Sfax, Sousse and Jendouba through five lines of inquiry: the international dimension of the SDVs, their development methods, the study of representations, organisational structures and, finally, practices.
This work has led us to three main findings. Firstly, our analyses led us to conclude that the four processes studied reveal continuities with certain approaches to urban planning that already exist in Tunisia, thereby putting the impact of the ‘Tunisian Spring’ on urban planning practices into perspective. Secondly, our analyses also led us to conclude that the four case studies reflect transformations that have concerned only specific aspects of urban planning and apply to very specific fields. Finally, the third finding of our research showed that the four case studies (including those conceived before the ‘Tunisian Spring’) brought about a renewal of urban planning in Tunisia and were the catalyst for changes at several levels of urban governance.

Abandoned luggage has long been a problem in the transport sector and in the management models of complex socio-systems such as metropolitan railway stations. The issue is attracting increasing attention from both managers and institutions, as the number of so-called ‘abandoned’ items (those not claimed or returned to their owners within 20 minutes) rose by more than 50% between 2020 and 2022, prompting the SNCF to devise two complementary strategies:

– On the one hand, a focus on providing enhanced support for passengers, through staff and digital tools (station announcements, text message campaigns, CCTV, and luggage tracking via QR codes or geolocation). This approach is part of the station manager’s commitment to implementing ‘benevolent surveillance’, encouraging individual behaviour based on vigilance and interactions that help prevent potentially disruptive behaviour;

– Furthermore, to resolve cases of unclaimed luggage, the implementation of a regulatory protocol (January 2020) that is both very strict and highly disruptive to business continuity (with the security perimeter extended to 200 metres and the evacuation of railway land). Abandoned items can be seen as ‘grains of sand’ that hinder the railway system and, in a systemic way, undermine all other ancillary activities within railway complexes.

This dual response, which is both preventive and remedial, involves decision-making and experimentation in the technological, organisational and institutional spheres, as well as in the realm of the relationship between the company and its customers. The thesis therefore examines the continuum of practices and responsibilities that are assembled and negotiated around these neglected areas within the fields of reception and information, flow management, security and commercial services.

This thesis lies at the intersection of the field of socio-technical analysis of risks and crises (LATTS) and the field of logistics and digital mobility services in railway stations (LVMT). It forms part of the ‘material turn’ in the social sciences and examines the object in terms of the practices, relationships and spatialities it engages in with a subject, and more broadly, with networked actors. The empirical work will therefore reveal the as yet barely visible links between, on the one hand, surveillance—often regarded as overarching and panoptic—and, on the other, a benevolent, partnership-based relationship mediated by humans and machines. It will juxtapose, if not contrast, the organisational and institutional transformation brought about by the process of transcribing and translating security protocols within the highly constrained frameworks of station management, amidst the clash of sometimes rival professional cultures and identities. The aim of the thesis is indeed to show what the neglected object teaches us about the interplay of the processes of digitalisation, security and value creation at work in transport hubs, against a backdrop of profound institutional reforms (opening up to competition) and rising risks and uncertainties.

Many urban properties and spaces in major cities are becoming financial assets. Offices, shopping centres, student accommodation and large-scale facilities are being acquired by investment funds and listed companies that capitalise on the future revenue streams generated by the use of these buildings by businesses and residents. Urban regeneration through the development of mixed-use neighbourhoods is, via the financing channels of the property markets, linked to the financial markets. This thesis aims to analyse this financialisation of urban capitalism by examining the interplay between urban government policies and the financial strategies of property asset managers. The power relations between these two actors and their socio-spatial and material effects are examined through a comparison of two major development projects located in Greater Paris and Greater Lyon. It is from this perspective that the study focuses not only on the operational projects themselves, but also on the property fairs where they are presented, and on metropolitan strategies.

Research shows that, despite differing political orientations, the construction of standardised, polarised commercial property reserved for a handful of large companies shapes urban regeneration in both cases. These conditions align with the selective investment criteria of asset managers, which property consultants and developers convey to local authorities. They result from processes whose contentiousness varies according to local agendas. Following intense negotiations led by developers, the municipality of Saint-Ouen abandoned certain key principles of the Docks project. The development of the Carré de Soie, by contrast, resulted in a consensus between developers and Greater Lyon regarding the creation of a commercial hub. Two local configurations are put forward to interpret this comparative outcome, which is conducive to financialisation. The lack of regulation of office development at the level of the Paris metropolitan area leads to localised negotiations within the project, where municipal objectives are constrained by the prioritisation of political agendas, the financing arrangements for the development, and the nature of the land. In the Lyon metropolitan area, the institutionalisation of a property supply policy driven by the executive and the economic development departments of Greater Lyon organises the circulation of investment standards across the conurbation and reinforces their influence on urban planning.

Building on these findings, the thesis proposes an urban political economy interpretation of the financialisation of the urban environment as an alternative to Marxian theory, emphasising the role of asset managers and highlighting their mediating role. It contributes to theories of urban power by demonstrating the limited influence of local agendas on the selective effects of financialisation, and by discussing the formation, under certain conditions, of a financialised growth coalition.

Members of the jury

• Philip Ashton, Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago (Rapporteur)
• Ève Chiapello, Director of Studies, EHESS (CEMS)
• Sylvie Fol, University Professor, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
• Ludovic Halbert, CNRS Research Fellow (LATTS) (Co-supervisor)
• Christian Lefèvre, University Professor, Université Paris-Est (Supervisor)
• Gilles Pinson, Professor, Sciences Po Bordeaux (Rapporteur)