Ville durable et transports : automobile, environnement et comportements individuels

The world has slipped in the urban era. In about thirty years, in the whole world, the three-quarters of the population will live in towns. Urban development is not mastered and is achieved in developing countries, with serious socio-economic and environmental consequences, according to occidental principles which become world-wide the main reference. A strategy of sustainable development for the town implies the questioning of such a model, based on a huge waste of resources. This subject is analysed in a European context with a special focus on "automobile dependence" and linked environmental issues. We stress on two topics: energetic consumption and atmospheric pollution. Psychosociological behaviours of individuals are confronted with objective facts. The growing gap between subjective and objective aspects leads to a philosophical questioning and to the necessity to refer to the problematic of responsibility.