General presentation

The issue of metropolitan governance and the dynamics of urban areas is currently at the center of political and research priorities in many countries. On this topic, UMR CITERES organizes in Tours the 2019 conference of the French and British Study Group on Urban Planning. The aim is to conduct an interdisciplinary comparative debate on the institutional and spatial dynamics of metropolises in the United Kingdom and France. Insights on other European or extra-European countries are also welcome. Communications from the fields of urbanism, geography, public law, political science or sociology - non-exhaustive list - are expected. These could proceed by case studies, deliver expertise on a country or attempt a comparative analysis in a specific area of public management and metropolitan reform.

The French and British Study Group on Urban Planning is an interdisciplinary network created in 1998 to promote dialogue between French and British academics conducting research on cities in the other country. The group has developed a sustained activity of meetings and events in France and the United Kingdom since that date and has produced a number of academic publications in English and French. Thus, the symposium in Tours extends a seminar held at the French Embassy in London in June 2017, which was organised by Xavier Desjardins (Paris Sorbonne University) and Olivier Sykes (Liverpool University). Today, the group has more than 50 members, mainly British and French, but also includes researchers from third countries interested in planning and society in France and the United Kingdom. Since 2005, the group has been formally established as a thematic network of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), which has enabled it to reach a wider audience of European researchers and a network that can help it launch initiatives that generally require more than bilateral cooperation.

The conference will also be supported by the APERAU France-Europe, European section of the French-speaking network of research in spatial planning and urban planning.

This event will benefit from the scientific contribution of the Platform for Observation of Projects and Urban Strategies (POPSU) initiated by the Plan Urbanisme Construction Architecture, Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, Ministry of the Cohesion of the Territories and Relations with local authorities).