Les conflits d'aménagement, de l'utilité sociale à l'équité locale ? Le calcul économique et les dispositifs juridiques au défi de l'équité dans les nuisances des infrastructures

Conciliating economic efficiency with equity is a key issue in the implementation of infrastructure-building projects that have public interest content. This issue can be related to another one, i.e. the link between the economic evaluation of public projects and administrative law. The paper focuses on the two dimensions; it looks for the ‘equity content' in both economic and legal processes. Section 1 argues that the respected fields of economics and law are not at the same level : public economic calculus is a substantive discourse since projects evaluation gives a quantitative measure of collective surplus while French administrative law is procedural. It does not give any substantive definition of the public interest but sets up mandatory formal procedures that have to be followed. Section 2 expands on the equity issue. Integrating equity criteria within economic calculus is not an easy matter. Administrative law rules do not concretize the French Republican notion of equity which underlies the principle of equality of people towards public nuisances. Interests of people suffering of public nuisance are not treated as equal. Public policies promoting the democratization of public choice through public debates go not make a step towards in that way. Owing to the dead-ends in public policies, section 3 explores some ways to ensure a better coupling of efficiency and equity : integrating a rawlsian principle of justice within economic calculus, or reforming the institutional patterns of projects implementation in order to make sure that the interests of populations are equally treated whatever their socio-economic level and location in space are.