Crise et reconversion des milieux industrialo-portuaires : dépendance de sentier ou renouveau économique ? Les exemples de Dunkerque (France) et de Gdansk (Pologne)

In the current knowledge-based economy, the development of ?innovative milieus? is at the centre of territorial redeployment policies. The emergence of these innovative milieus stems from the trajectory that the territory has followed for a long period of time. They result from an alchemy between the local communities, the local institutions and the enterprises which favours, according to the assets of the territory, the attractiveness and the emergence of new activities. In this paper, we study the trajectory followed by two towns characterized by a strong industrial specialization : Dunkerque (France) and Gdansk (Poland). How to explain the constant choice of industrialisation as a redeployment policy in the case of Dunkerque, while Gdansk seems to develop new assets that could result in the emergence of new growth paths ? We answer this question by mobilizing the evolutionist theory and notably by indentifying the specific and complementary assets accumulated over the time.