IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/eurcou/v8y2016i4p395-412n5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Dynamics Of Small Towns In France

Author

Listed:
  • Jousseaume Valérie

    (PhD. University lecturer, University: Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement, Université de Nantes (Igarun), France France)

  • Talandier Magali

    (PhD. University lecturer, University of Grenoble-Alpes, France France)

Abstract

This article is based on a renewed, unified functional definition of France’s urban hierarchy. Our ranking defines small towns exclusively in terms of their commercial and service functions, not according to size (population or jobs). Accordingly small towns are characterized by their function both in terms of education (presence of a high school), healthcare (a hospital with an operating theatre) and trade (a supermarket with floorspace exceeding 2,500 square metres). The population of small French towns identified using these criteria ranges from 6,200 to 35,500, with 3,500 to 19,000 jobs, depending on their regional context. Large hub-bourgs, defined as places hosting a secondary school, supermarket and nursing home, emerge as the lower limit of the urban world, interfacing with the countryside. In several ways they might count as ‘very small towns’, with a population ranging from 2,400 to 13,500, and 1,000 to 4,700 jobs. The article then analyses the population dynamic of small towns in mainland France over the past 50 years. This period has witnessed far-reaching changes: an urban then metropolitan model has gradually taken shape and gathered strength. In recent years this process has gone hand-in-hand with the demographic renewal of rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Jousseaume Valérie & Talandier Magali, 2016. "The Dynamics Of Small Towns In France," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 8(4), pages 395-412, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:eurcou:v:8:y:2016:i:4:p:395-412:n:5
    DOI: 10.1515/euco-2016-0027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/euco-2016-0027
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/euco-2016-0027?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charlotta Mellander & Richard Florida & Jason Rentfrow, 2011. "The creative class, post-industrialism and the happiness of nations," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 5(1), pages 31-43.
    2. Anping Chen & Mark D. Partridge, 2013. "When are Cities Engines of Growth in China? Spread and Backwash Effects across the Urban Hierarchy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(8), pages 1313-1331, September.
    3. Hall, Peter, 1995. "The future of cities in Western Europe," European Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 161-169, April.
    4. Dominique Mignot & Anne Aguilera, 2004. "Urban Sprawl, Polycentrism and Commuting. A Comparison of Seven French Urban Areas," Post-Print halshs-00069436, HAL.
    5. Mohamed Hilal & Virginie Piguet & Bertrand Schmitt, 1995. "Communes rurales et petites villes dans la hiérarchie urbaine," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 282(1), pages 21-36.
    6. Elizabeth Dobis & Michael Delgado & Raymond Florax & Peter Mulder, 2015. "Population Growth in American Cities between 1990 and 2010: True Contagion and Urban Hierarchy," ERSA conference papers ersa15p1128, European Regional Science Association.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giuseppe Attanasi & Ylenia Curci & Patrick Llerena & Maria del Pino Ramos-Sosa & Adriana Carolina Pinate & Giulia Urso, 2019. "Looking at Creativity from East to West: Risk Taking and Intrinsic Motivation in Socially and Culturally Diverse Countries," Working Papers of BETA 2019-38, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    2. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Sylvie Démurger & Shi Li, 2013. "Urbanisation and Migration Externalities in China," Working Papers 1303, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    3. Yanting Tang & Jinlong Gao & Wen Chen, 2022. "The Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Population in the Yangtze River Delta, China: An Urban Hierarchy Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Zhen Yang & Xiangjun Ou & Huxiao Zhu, 2023. "Population Dynamics and Its Driving Forces in China from 2000 to 2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Nicolas, Jean-Pierre & Pelé, Nicolas, 2018. "Reprint of Measuring trends in household expenditures for daily mobility. The case in Lyon, France, between 1995 and 2015," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 19-29.
    6. Xiao, Rui & Yu, Xiaoyu & Xiang, Ting & Zhang, Zhonghao & Wang, Xue & Wu, Jianguo, 2021. "Exploring the coordination between physical space expansion and social space growth of China’s urban agglomerations based on hierarchical analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    7. Shu-hen Chiang, 2018. "Assessing the Merits of the Urban-Led Policy in China: Spread or Backwash Effect?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, February.
    8. C. Duvivier & S. Li & M.-F. Renard, 2013. "Are workers close to cities paid higher nonagricultural wages in rural China?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(30), pages 4308-4322, October.
    9. Shazia Kousar & Farhan Ahmed & Amber Pervaiz & Štefan Bojnec, 2021. "Food Insecurity, Population Growth, Urbanization and Water Availability: The Role of Government Stability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    10. Paolo Veneri & Vicente Ruiz, 2016. "Urban-To-Rural Population Growth Linkages: Evidence From Oecd Tl3 Regions," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 3-24, January.
    11. Shu‐Hen Chiang, 2012. "The Source of Metropolitan Growth: The Role of Commuting," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 143-166, March.
    12. Cattaneo, Andrea & Adukia, Anjali & Brown, David L. & Christiaensen, Luc & Evans, David K. & Haakenstad, Annie & McMenomy, Theresa & Partridge, Mark & Vaz, Sara & Weiss, Daniel J., 2022. "Economic and social development along the urban–rural continuum: New opportunities to inform policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    13. Xiaojian Li & Xinyue Ye & Xiongfei Zhou & Chunhui Zheng & Mark Leipnik & Fan Lou, 2018. "Specialized Villages in Inland China: Spatial and Developmental Issues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Khalid Sekkat, 2017. "Urban Concentration and Poverty in Developing Countries," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 435-458, September.
    15. Nicolas, Jean-Pierre & Pelé, Nicolas, 2017. "Measuring trends in household expenditures for daily mobility. The case in Lyon, France, between 1995 and 2015," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 82-92.
    16. Aguiléra, Anne & Voisin, Marion, 2014. "Urban form, commuting patterns and CO2 emissions: What differences between the municipality’s residents and its jobs?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 243-251.
    17. Anping Chen & Tianshi Dai & Mark D. Partridge, 2021. "Agglomeration and firm wage inequality: Evidence from China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 352-386, March.
    18. Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López & Camille Hémet & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2017. "How does transportation shape intrametropolitan growth? An answer from the Regional Express Rail," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 758-780, November.
    19. Marques, André M., 2022. "Is income inequality good or bad for growth? Further empirical evidence using data for all Brazilian cities," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 360-376.
    20. Zhiyuan Yao & Changjoo Kim, 2019. "The Changes of Urban Structure and Commuting: An Application to Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(1), pages 3-30, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:eurcou:v:8:y:2016:i:4:p:395-412:n:5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.