From the city to a cyber urban lifestyle : reinforced solitude or the return to village communities ?

• Albert ASSÉRAF
  Managing director of Strategy, Studies and Marketing, JCDecaux City Provider
  
• Dominique LAOUSSE
  Representative
  Delegation for innovation and sustainable development, RATP (Paris public transport system)
  
  
• Thierry MARCOU
  Director, Villes 2.0 Programme
  Fondation internet nouvelle génération (FING)
  
• Jean-Marc OFFNER
  Director, Latts (research group on technologies, territories and societies), École nationale des Ponts & Chaussées
  

Summary

Urban mobility is being enhanced, although being made more complex, by the proliferation of means of transport (bicycles, rollerblades or scooters), as well as new instruments (mobile telephones and the mobile web) including those which provide information on one's geographical position (SatNav). While some city dwellers benefit from this to plan a new urban life full of energy, others find themselves overwhelmed by the necessary skills, and retreat into familiar surroundings and their immediate neighbourhoods. New participants with original, economic models such as JCDecaux and Google, as well as those actively involved in the web 2.0, are starting to make their presence felt in a world which has been traditionally structured around bodies such as the RATP and municipalities. These companies, which are drawing up a blueprint for towns of the future, are simultaneously ebullient and paradoxical, and are struggling to find a suitable means of governance.

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Loïc VIEILLARD-BARON.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference IN020608).