Les trajectoires économiques et les formes sociales de l'innovation dans les villes moyennes : les cas d'Albi (Midi-Pyrénées), d'Alès (Languedoc-Roussillon), de Fougères et de Quimper (Bretagne)

Several common ideas turn around the concept of « Medium-Sized Cities ». Too small to influence their economic environment, their industrial patterns wouldn?t be able to reach the standards of post-fordism based on a constant innovation process. As a consequence, concentrating public R&D investments in Metropolitan Areas would ensure and comfort economic growth. Studying the social and spatial levels linked to technopolitan projects hold in the cities of Albi (Tarn), Alès (Gard), Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine) and Quimper (Finistère), we come to the conclusion Medium Sized-Cities are, on a long term perspective, adapting themselves to the contemporary economic regime based on a constant innovation process.