Des « cabanes » à la « cabanisation » : la face cachée de l’urbanisation sur le littoral du Languedoc-Roussillon

Abstract

The development of illegal housing is a reality on a national scale, in particular, on coasts experiencing significant human-made pressure. In Languedoc-Roussillon, the consumption of space by the legal urbanization of the coastal zone comes along with an illegal occupation of the space by temporary housing or housing with all the modern conveniences but not falling under the rules of urban planning, occupied in a temporary or permanent way by populations of very diverse social standing. The transformation of traditional accommodation (“cabins”) as a problem of public policy (“cabinization”) and the overlap between traditional and recent occupations, native and non-native inhabitants gets mayors into trouble, as they are asked to find a socio-territorial balance in a context of increasing human, financial and electoral pressure. This article aims to highlight this mode of occupation of the coast and to characterize its specificities. It offers an interpretative framework of “cabinization” profiles, allowing us to highlight the differentiated treatment of this phenomenon and appreciate different territorial divides and various forms of marginalization undergone by certain resident populations on the coast of Languedoc-Roussillon.

Keywords

• stakeholders
• hutting
• illegal housing
• coastal zone
• Languedoc-Roussillon
• regulation