UPDATE - Re-analyzing automobile dependence in periurban and rural areas – UPDATEPERRIURB

The aim of UpdatePerriurb is to test these two hypotheses by analysing statistical and cartographic data, conducting local field surveys, and collaborating with local stakeholders such as households, public stakeholders, associations, and companies.

UpdatePerriurb utilises a multidisciplinary approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies. This approach involves anthropologists, geographers, planners, and economists and is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. The use of mixed methods is intended to overcome any compartmentalisation of knowledge. It also allows for user expertise and collaboration with local stakeholders.

UpdatePerriurb aims to analyse the changes that have taken place over the last ten years in the extended metropolitan areas of Angers, Clermont-Ferrand, Caen, Toulon, and Angoulême. These are areas that have been little studied, where car ownership rates are very high and there are few alternatives to the car as the sole means of transport. They structure living and employment areas with contrasting internal characteristics, combining the main urban centre, secondary centres of towns and small cities, and their respective areas of influence, as well as rural areas. Particular emphasis will be placed on peri-urban and rural areas around Angers and Clermont-Ferrand. This will provide a detailed understanding of car dependency in contexts resulting from two different industrial and agricultural histories and demographic dynamism, as well as specific urban and spatial morphologies linked to their location in the national geographical space.

Partnerships have been established with local authorities and their associated trade union and association structures in each of the study areas. These include Departmental Councils 49 and 63, the Urban Planning Agency of the Angevin Region and the Urban Planning Agency of Clermont Massif Central, the Joint Public Transport Association of the Clermont Agglomeration (SMTC-AC) and Angers Loire Métropole (authorities responsible for organising mobility), the Social Centre of the Chemillois (Centre Social du Chemillois).

The goal is to produce new knowledge on the car dependance in periurban and rural areas and produce different scenarios for evolving car dependance in those areas. The projet has four sub objectives (SO):

SO 1: To analyse the level of car dependance in periurban and rural areas on a national scale and understand how it has changed over the last ten years compared with other types of area.

SO 2: To understand how, at a local level, this car dependance is envisaged and tackled by the public and private stakeholders (public authorities, associations, businesses) concerned.

SO 3: To provide new insights into how, at a local level, this car dependance is experienced by households living in car dependent periurban and rural areas.

SO 4: To produce mobility transition scenarios tailored to the geographical and socio-economic diversity of peri-urban and rural areas and make recommendations.

The UPDATEPERRIURB project aims to renew knowledge on car dependency of household living in peri-urban and rural areas, in order to produce local mobility transition pathways. Although car dependency in peri-urban and rural areas received significant attention in the field of Transportation Studies in the 1990s and 2000s, it has since been neglected. This situation is paradoxical because these areas are precisely where the transition to sustainability appears to be the most challenging.
UPDATEPERRIURB will investigate two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that car dependency is increasing, leading to a sense of injustice due to deteriorating living conditions in these areas and a lack of suitable alternatives. The second hypothesis is that car dependency is being 'contained' and tackled into PURA . Being more aware of environmental and energy issues, households may seek to manage their car dependency differently. Both local public players and businesses could develop innovative solutions tailored to their area to promote sustainability.
The aim of UPDATEPERRIURB is to test these two hypotheses by analysing statistical and cartographic data at national and local scales and conducting local field surveys. Additionally, the project aims to collaborate with local stakeholders such as households, public players, associations, and businesses to develop different scenarios for the sustainable and inclusive development of car dependency in peri-urban and rural areas, based on feedback from existing schemes. This output will enable exploration of the full range of scenarios between the two extreme hypotheses. These scenarios will be tailored to the economic, social, spatial, and political characteristics of the studied areas. They will also serve as a basis for proposing national recommendations.
UPDATEPERRIURB aims to analyse in particular the changes that have taken place over the last ten years in the extended metropolitan areas of Angers, Clermont-Ferrand, Caen, Toulon, and Angoulême. These are areas that have been little studied, where car ownership rates are very high and there are few alternatives to the car as the sole means of transport. They structure living and employment areas with contrasting internal characteristics, combining the main urban centre, secondary centres of towns and small cities, and their respective areas of influence, as well as rural areas. Particular emphasis will be placed on peri-urban and rural areas around Angers and Clermont-Ferrand. This will provide a detailed understanding of car dependency in contexts resulting from two different industrial and agricultural histories and demographic dynamism, as well as specific urban and spatial morphologies linked to their location in the national geographical space.
Partnerships have been established with local authorities and the trade union and association structures responsible for mobility in each of the study areas. These include Departmental Councils 49 and 63, the Urban Planning Agency of the Angevin Region and the Urban Planning Agency of Clermont Massif Central, the Joint Public Transport Association of the Clermont Agglomeration (SMTC-AC) and Angers Loire Métropole (both authorities responsible for organising mobility), the Social Centre of the Chemillois (Centre Social du Chemillois).
From a scientific perspective, UPDATEPERRIURB relies on a multidisciplinary approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies. This approach involves anthropologists, geographers, planners, and economists and is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. The use of mixed methods is intended to overcome any compartmentalisation of knowledge. It also allows for user expertise and collaboration with local stakeholders.