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Town planners transform the emblematic public spaces of cities and tourist resorts in order to favour their image and their notoriety. They try to allow tourists to get their originality and harmony. Therefore, town planning privileges great build-up with experiments, feelings, meetings; it regards the visitor as a new actor of urban life, an actor who takes part in the narrative construction of the city. However, mass tourism often robs emblematic spaces of its authenticity, creating problems like conflicts of use and appropriation.

Winter sports and mountaineering resorts have been instrumental in the revival of the mountain image, the opening-up of which to tourism had increased its popularity. Urban development has been summoned to produce functional accommodation and leisure sports facilities, not much to highlight the scenery and symbolism valorising the identity, the renown and the attraction of the mountain and its civilisation. The fordist and mimetic model of production of the 380 French resorts has produced from 1960 onwards series of contempory new towns, like suburbs created ex nihilo which have since spread out at high altitude in urbanised clumps. Today, these high-altitude island lumps are aging and need requalifying. One of the major stakes of sustainable planning in mountain regions is the improving of these resorts favouring the restructuring of existing buildings and their integration in the environment. How to adapt the urban landscapes of the ski resorts to their mountain environment? Which stakes poses their temporal and space anchoring?

For natural areas considered as outstanding, issues related to the governance and the ways of managing visitor flows, as well as the improvement of the quality and the experience of the visit, are expressed in terms of sustainable mobility, access to data concerning the visit, collaborative consumption, participation and dialogue between local inhabitants, shopkeepers, visitors and site managers. This paper reports the main results of research evaluating the way in which seven outstanding natural sites in France approach this question. It draws from the experiments conducted a series of lessons and questions that were debated in January 2017 at the French National Assembly with members of the Grands Sites de France Network. It contributes to knowledge of the user experience, and how the latter is taken into account by the regions responsible for the management of these areas. The growing importance of immaterial factors in regulating flows of visits to these areas combined with the radical paradigm shift that now considers natural common resources as being both material and immaterial help, by their development, to determine the tourism regulation of these exceptional sites. The analysis of perceptions and representations contributes to the knowledge of the methods of optimizing nature and establishes concerted intervention with visitors as a major factor in local development.

En los espacios naturales calificados de valor singular, la gobernanza y las modalidades de gestión de los flujos de visitantes, la mejora de la calidad y de la experiencia de la visita se plantean en términos de movilidad sostenible, de acceso a las informaciones de la visita, de consumo colaborativo, de participación y de diálogo entre personas, empresas, visitantes y directivos. Este artículo informa sobre los principales resultados de una investigación que ha evaluado la manera en la que 7 espacios naturales singulares abordan esta cuestión en Francia. Se extraen enseñanzas de experiencias de gestión y de cuestiones debatidas en enero de 2017 en la Asamblea Nacional con miembros de la Red de “Grands sites” de Francia. Este artículo contribuye a conocer las experiencias de los visitantes y como esas experiencias son tenidas en cuenta por los gestores de esos espacios. La creciente importancia de los elementos inmateriales en la regulación de los flujos de visitantes de estos sitios y el cambio radical de paradigma de “bien común natural” como recurso a la vez material e inmaterial llevan a prestar especial interés a la regulación turística de los espacios naturales singulares a través de estos valores. El análisis de las percepciones y de las representaciones mentales profundiza en el conocimientos de los modos de valorar de la naturaleza y pone de relieve la importancia de la intervención concertada con los visitantes como factor principal para el desarrollo local.

Dans les sites naturels qualifiés d’exceptionnels, la gouvernance et les modalités de gestion des flux de visiteurs, l’amélioration de la qualité et de l’expérience de la visite se posent en termes de mobilités durables, d’accès aux informations de la visite, de consommation collaborative, de participation et de dialogue entre habitants, commerçants, visiteurs et gestionnaires. Cet article rend compte des principaux résultats d’une recherche qui a évalué la manière dont sept sites naturels exceptionnels abordent cette question en France. Il tire des expériences menées une série d’enseignements et de questions qui ont été débattues, en janvier 2017 à l’Assemblée nationale, avec les membres du Réseau des Grands sites de France. Il contribue à la connaissance de l’expérience des usagers et à la manière dont elle est prise en compte par les territoires gestionnaires. L’importance croissante des éléments immatériels dans la régulation des flux de visite de ces sites, le changement radical de paradigme du bien commun naturel comme ressource à la fois matérielle et immatérielle concourent, par leur valorisation, à cerner la régulation touristique des hauts-lieux. L’analyse des perceptions et des représentations abonde la connaissance des modes de valorisation de la nature et érige l’intervention concertée avec les visiteurs en facteur majeur de développement local.

In the Pyrenees, the decentralised manner in which planning permission is awarded to projects might give the impression that the expansion of ski resorts is now more attuned to the concerns of local people, with potential conflicts handled more effectively than they were in the past. The reality is in fact quite different: The direct proximity of highly artificial spaces dedicated to winter sports with zones of exceptional environmental and natural importance continues to produce many conflicts; however, these receive relatively little media attention, but they have the potential to block development. Today’s anti-development associations are using new tools and methods, and their ability to counter proposed projects is undeniable. Presenting a resistance that is “solid, well-organised and backed up by legal expertise”, they use legal channels to campaign against projects they consider to be harmful, and they eschew mass demonstrations. This marks a clear break from previous approaches. Unlike the protest movements of the 1970s, these citizens’ associations remain pragmatic, non-hierarchical and local, led by ‘mountain folk’. Some local campaigns are ambiguous in nature and bring together a highly diverse array of stakeholders with interests in the local economy. Protest groups first and foremost, these associations rarely transcend their oppositional stance to propose real alternatives and become a force for territorial innovation.

In the Pyrenees, the decentralised manner in which planning permission is awarded to projects might give the impression that the expansion of ski resorts is now more attuned to the concerns of local people, with potential conflicts handled more effectively than they were in the past. The reality is in fact quite different: The direct proximity of highly artificial spaces dedicated to winter sports with zones of exceptional environmental and natural importance continues to produce many conflicts; however, these receive relatively little media attention, but they have the potential to block development. Today’s anti-development associations are using new tools and methods, and their ability to counter proposed projects is undeniable. Presenting a resistance that is “solid, well-organised and backed up by legal expertise”, they use legal channels to campaign against projects they consider to be harmful, and they eschew mass demonstrations. This marks a clear break from previous approaches. Unlike the protest movements of the 1970s, these citizens’ associations remain pragmatic, non-hierarchical and local, led by ‘mountain folk’. Some local campaigns are ambiguous in nature and bring together a highly diverse array of stakeholders with interests in the local economy. Protest groups first and foremost, these associations rarely transcend their oppositional stance to propose real alternatives and become a force for territorial innovation.

L’efficacité de l’intercommunalité dans la reconversion de l’économie des territoires touristiques montagnards se prête particulièrement bien à une analyse en termes de gouvernance. Mettre l’accent sur les processus de négociation, de concertation, de coopération entre les sphères publiques, privées et les réseaux permet d’évaluer les liens de solidarité dans la gestion des crises, notamment lors de l’accompagnement du désarmement de petites stations de ski ou de leur adaptation à un hypothétique « tourisme 4 saisons ». La manière dont la gouvernance intercommunale de la ressource touristique est conduite à cette occasion montre les fractures de ces territoires dans la gestion des emplois, de l’habitat, des intérêts, des ressources, des enjeux, des représentations. Les dynamiques interterritoriales aboutissent à des coopérations différenciées et à des systèmes gigognes qui demeurent isolés, couvrant chacun des projets concurrents. Dans les 11 stations de ski pyrénéennes en Catalogne française, les modes de gouvernance restent souvent « confinés » et compartimentés, les regroupements s’y opèrent sans réelle discussion démocratique avec la population. Parce qu’elle n’y fait que très rarement débat, l’intercommunalité parvient mal à atteindre des consensus entre décideurs pour sauver de la fermeture définitive les domaines skiables menacés par un enneigement structurellement déficitaire.

The efficiency of inter-municipal relations in regenerating or restructuring the economy of mountain tourist areas is well suited to an analysis in terms of governance. Focussing on the negotiation, consultation and cooperation processes between the public and private spheres, and associated networks of actors, provides an opportunity to assess the ties of solidarity in the management of crises. More specifically, this study examines inter-municipal relations in the context of the crisis now facing many small ski resorts in the Pyrenees, where declining snowfalls may lead to the dismantling of facilities or their adaptation to a hypothetical “4-season tourism”.The manner in which inter-municipal governance of the tourism resource is implemented in this context reveals fractures among the different actors relating to the management of jobs, housing, interests, resources, the issues at stake, and representations. Inter-territorial dynamics results in different types of cooperative arrangements and nested management systems that remain isolated, each covering competing projects. In the 11 Pyrenean ski resorts of French Catalonia, the different types of governance often remain narrowly delimited and compartmentalised, and inter-municipal cooperation takes place without any real democratic discussion with the resident population. Since debate is very rare, inter-municipal relations are at pains to bring about consensus between decision-makers on how to save the local ski areas threatened with permanent closure by a structurally deficient snowfall.

The cross-border comparative study of the forms and outcomes of the introduction of sustainable tourism by inter-communal efforts in the western Pyrenees has revealed the difficulties of imposing the model, and, worse, this model is often the alibi justifying a mass of incoherent tourist policy, which, being defective in forward planning and territorial coherence, makes it difficult to apply. Research on this theme was carried out from 2004-2006 at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour in collaboration with the University of Saragosse. The three conclusions it reached are presented in summarized form as follows: 1 - incorporation of tourism in the field of sustainable development has been belated and hesitant, resulting in big delays as far as its application is concerned; 2 - in France more than in Spain, the multi-level nature of inter-communal bodies together with the lack of transfer of competences in mass tourism have produced the breaking-up of territorial-based development and its management, excluding long-term consideration project-wise. 3 - the overbearing presence of big leisure-construction operations is upturning the traditional residential and land management balance and reveals insufficient initial planning efforts.

The cross-border comparative study of the forms and outcomes of the introduction of sustainable tourism by inter-communal efforts in the western Pyrenees has revealed the difficulties of imposing the model, and, worse, this model is often the alibi justifying a mass of incoherent tourist policy, which, being defective in forward planning and territorial coherence, makes it difficult to apply. Research on this theme was carried out from 2004-2006 at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour in collaboration with the University of Saragosse. The three conclusions it reached are presented in summarized form as follows: 1 - incorporation of tourism in the field of sustainable development has been belated and hesitant, resulting in big delays as far as its application is concerned; 2 - in France more than in Spain, the multi-level nature of inter-communal bodies together with the lack of transfer of competences in mass tourism have produced the breaking-up of territorial-based development and its management, excluding long-term consideration project-wise. 3 - the overbearing presence of big leisure-construction operations is upturning the traditional residential and land management balance and reveals insufficient initial planning efforts.