Contribution à l’étude des petites villes françaises– Focus sur les petites villes thermales et leurs caractéristiques démographiques

Abstract

Since the 2000s, after an eclipse of almost 30 years, small towns have been making a comeback on the (geo)political and scientific scene. Several symposia have been organised on their subject and various articles have been published, particularly from the point of view of their functions (small commercial and industrial towns). Nevertheless, one category of small towns has not yet been analysed in depth: spa towns. This is all the more incongruous as their dominant economic sector finds a certain interest among public authorities, private groups and customers, and as they play a significant role in terms of town and country planning by being poles of centrality. Our contribution therefore aims to fill this gap. For this article, we will first look at their trajectory and their demographic characteristics. Can a typology of thermal towns be established ? Do the small thermal towns stand out from the other small towns ?

Keywords

• small cities
• spas
• demographic and geographical dynamics
• thermal geography