Small towns in transition? Potentials and limits of a national urban regeneration policy in France

While contemporary urban research focuses mainly on the dynamics of very large cities, small towns are a growing concern for public authorities. In the last fifteen years, policies and strategies aiming at their regeneration have been launched in various countries. France offers an interesting case where urban regeneration, which has been pursued for decades in large cities has more recently been applied, at the behest of the national government, to small towns. This paper examines to what extent such a national urban regeneration policy may promote the transition of small towns towards sustainability. In terms of methodology, we combine a state-of-the-art review with a secondary analysis of official documents and recent empirical research. Our results are threefold. First, towns are very diverse, depending on their integration into a region that is more or less economically and demographically dynamic, and on their proximity to a major city. Second, in spite of this heterogeneity, national policies in favour of small towns have been based on the general perception of territories in decline. Thirdly, we show that, despite a favourable policy context, sustainability actions are carried out discreetly, with little visibility and valorization.