Although it is frequent, discontinuous (leapfrog) development has rarely been addressed by the literature, because traditional models are unable to conceive diverse urban forms. This article is a survey of theoretical explanations of discontinuous development. It follows two parts. First, taking...

This article aims at providing a test of the spatial mismatch hypothesis on the Bordeaux metropolitan area. Starting with a theoretical survey of the complex links between residential segregation and local labour markets, we then propose a framework allowing for a better understanding of the...

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) has given rise to a flourishing literature since the beginning of the 90’s. The EKC postulates an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and polluting emissions: there would be a level of wealth beyond which polluting emissions would decrease....

This article explores the theoretical linkages between urban sprawl and social segregation. We first present the way segregation can increase urban sprawl : according to the « flight from blight hypothesis », mechanisms of segregation may form socially homogenous areas which tend to move away...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the intra-urban spatial segregation in terms of socio-professional categories in four French urban areas: Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Dijon. Two questions are investigated. First, how does spatial segregation vary across the four urban poles? Second, what are...

The processes of metropolitanization must explain if and how they concern some specific areas, how and if they primarily concern networks, hubs and nodes, pushing into the background the immediate territories of the metropolis. We assume that small-sized areas, in particular rural zones, could...