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The theoretical framework of public problem remains quite discreet in geography, even though it is very classical in sociology and political science. Yet it seems useful to analyse conflictual situations regarding space, its sharing and its planning, as well as their (non-)resolution by public policies. The paper proposes to build on this framework to study a problem lasting for over a century: the deprivatization of the shores of Lake Geneva (Switzerland/France) and Lake Annecy (France). The paper reconstitutes the slow and difficult construction of the public problem and then analyses the strategies used to activate or circumvent the existing political rules. Drawing on this case study, we emphasize on the non-linearity of the construction and resolution of the problem and invite to shift the focus on the multiple retroactions between the early (framing, publicization) and late (agenda setting, public policies) stages of the classical model.

Assuming that the Covid-19 crisis functions as a revelation of underlying political logics, this article focuses on the regulation of access to nature by prefectoral decrees in metropolitan France, from March to May 2020. It proposes an exhaustive mapping of these measures and a qualitative analysis of the way they were justified. This research highlights the intensity of the control exercised over natural areas in the name of health emergency, revealing a regulatory frenzy and deep inconsistencies, which led to misunderstandings and contestations among society. It reveals the representations and values attached to natural areas and their recreational practices, symbols of freedom whose legitimacy does not seem to be granted. More broadly, the article allows to go beyond the sectoral approach of access to natural areas and to reinforce a fundamentally political conception of nature, an object around which many decisions and actions converge.

Bodies of water are very attractive for recreation and tourism. Therefore, waterfronts have the strategical function of putting users in contact with the liquid element. However, they can face privatization processes, which aim at keeping exclusive access to water for particular groups. The paper focuses on the case study of three large perialpine lakes located in the Savoy region (Lake Annecy, Lake Bourget, French side of Lake Geneva) and analyses the entanglements between lake tourism and private uses of waterfronts. The study relies on (i) an inventory of the specific section of the lake tourism offer which relies on exclusive access to water, and (ii) a qualitative analysis of the discourses and perceptions that go along with this offer. Drawing from this material, the paper highlights the links between the two phenomena, particularly obvious in the case of Lake Annecy. Unlike individual private uses of the lakeshores, which constitute a local public problem, this exclusive tourism offer appears to be less controversial. The paper suggests that its function is to give temporary access to what is socially perceived as a spatial privilege: the exclusive experience of close and direct contact with water.

Although there is an increasing demand for local produce this change in food consumption concerns principally people living in city centres with high social and cultural capital. The research presented in this article seeks to answer the following question : Are suburban areas and their inhabitants disconnected from the agricultural fringe areas which supply the city with local food products and, if so, why ? Based on the exploratory notion of the food landscape, we have sought to test the importance of the representations the inhabitants of disadvantaged urban areas have of the agricultural fringes and of the opportunities they provide as food sources. Within the framework of a field study and of a school project conducted in the Minguettes district (in Vénissieux in the agglomeration of Lyon), we have sought to identify the food landscapes of several types of stakeholders and their influence on the modes of food consumption of the inhabitants.

As outdoor activities develop, public spaces are transformed and extend beyond cities, blurring the limits between public and private spaces. This paper relies on a case study of Lake Annecy (Haute-Savoie, France) and analyzes public space at the crossroads between private property and concrete access. Mapping both sets of data, we observe a relative disconnection between property and access, along with a mutual encroachment between public and private spaces. Contrary to dominant discourses about the privatization of public spaces, this research reveals certain cases of private spaces being rendered public.