L’analyse des métaphores et les modèles de la métropole nord-américaine : débat et proposition

Abstract

This paper reviews the various models representing the form of the North American metropolis, starting from the School of Chicago up to the School of Los Angeles. It examines a series of metaphors ranging from the ecological to the gravitational, as well as space-time geography, urban scene or the game Keno with the aim of reconsidering the terms of debate regarding the contrasts between the gravitational and the fragmented metropolis models. Two questions are raised. The first involves urban studies’ unity in the ecological model i.e. its capacity to consider the organization of metropolitan space and place-level social interactions. The second deals with the issue of personal mobility i.e. the relation between the organization of metropolitan space and individual lived space. Two main findings emerge from this analysis: the unfinished nature of post-modern urbanism and the lack of a replacement metaphor that provides a general perspective on the contemporary form of the North-American metropolis. In light of this, we propose to build on fundamental physics string theory.

Keywords

• metaphor
• urban ecology
• times geography
• residential mobility
• urban strings