Regions and the future : a comparison of the RATP (Paris Public Transport System) and the french post

Over a number of years, Édith Heurgon has developed a new way of carrying out prospective projects. She uses a think-tank of individuals who take notice of subtle signs which may reveal profound changes, and which facilitate the transmission of information about 'hands on' experiences and expert knowledge, in order to renew ideas and methods of intervention. In the beginning of the 1980s, she created a team which studied future projects for the Paris public transport system (RATP : Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens). They sought to develop a network involving RATP managers and social science researchers in order to understand the relationships between transport and the city, and especially the place of interchange stations in the transport network. More recently, she was part of, and carried out a study for the Post Office with the aim of devising an identifiable, efficient and competitive post office. This tool into account various regions in which the post office operates, and tried to anticipate social change. Such an approach is a new way of looking at the concept of regions.