The urban challenge
Le défi urbain
Résumé
Three readings can be made about the urbanization of countrysides. The first one dedicates the ascendancy of the residential function in rural areas, considering that their inhabitants are completely members of an urban society in its values and its lifestyles. The second maintains a strong distinction between urban spaces and rural spaces, while considering the latter mainly as technical spaces essential to the smooth running of the urban systems. The last one doubts that the rural areas can be summarized to spaces and physical distances; it considers the urban challenge as a call to renew the multifonctionality of rural areas.