Groupe Chronos

In the recently published After the Car, John Urry and Kingsley Dennis envision different scenarios for a post automobile future (read J. Urry's interview in Libération). One of them focuses on local self-sufficiency and the revival of the local economy. This is a two-sided story : while some support its positive effect on the environment, others view it as sort of a "shrinking daily life" and there are obviously some social global issues at stake. For instance, countries with tempered climates are indeed favoured in this scenario. Yet, whatever the answer is, one has to admit that the local scenario is gaining ground...

The Occitània fesival, in the Toulouse region, is promoting the use of the occitan, an ancient roman language which used to be widespread in the south of France. It's quite successful : since the 21st of september announcements in the métro are made both in French and in Occitan (too bad for the English speaking tourists...).

While cultural reasons and matters of local traditions are put forward in the previous example, economic issues can explain the creation of new currencies in the UK. Brits don't want to abandon their beloved pound sterling which seems so fundamental for their identity, but at least two local currencies were created this month (Mon quartier, ma monnaie). Within a community, the "Brixton pound" and the "Stroud pound" are some kind of exchange tools whose aim is to help maintaining the local economy. On the long run, if the trend continues, it could have an impact on people' and goods' mobility.

Behind the anecdotes, the point is not to look backward and support nostalgic ideas of invented smurfesque life. If one considers the suburbs in the parisian agglomeration, it's more about reinjecting a bit of local life in deserted centres and improving connections in order to create better networks. I would like to conclude with a word from the architect Roland Castro who recently said in an interview that any place has a right to claim itself as a center.