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The term ‘polycentrism’ describes a model of territorial settlement of all human activities in which there are a plurality of connected centres. Polycentrism refers to two very important aspects: the morphological one, which concerns the distribution of built environment in the territory, and the functional one, which concerns the relations between the different poles.

In these early years of the 21st century metropolitan areas are the protagonists of radical transformation processes, both from the economic and social point of view and as regards the changes in their urbanistic and architectural organisation. Some aspects of these processes are also at the centre of a debate in the media and influence the agendas of politicians and administrators on different territorial scales (from the local up to the national and European). This is the case, particularly, of transformations resulting from migratory processes and from the formation of ethnically distinct quarters; phenomena of this kind evoke problems with strong symbolic and ethico-political relevance and are therefore apt to give rise to contrasting position-taking on the part of public opinion and the political forces. Other aspects have a less ‘popular’ nature and are apt above all to fuel the discussion between scholars of disciplines that deal with the territory; thus, for example, the accentuation of spatial imbalance between the different parts of the metropolis for reasons different from ethno-cultural ones (e.g. due to social causes or to the effect of property market dynamics) has nowadays, generally speaking, less public visibility, unless these are brought into the limelight by the explosion of striking forms of conflict (as happened, for example, in the banlieues of many French cities in the autumn of 2005). Similarly, in many urban contexts the media have devoted great attention to architectural and urbanistic reorganisation processes which have changed the face of many central quarters or ex-industrial areas, the subject of spectacular interventions often created by the most prestigious representatives of the international architectural star system. In these cases it can be observed in actual fact that to attract the attention of the media is one of the explicit objectives of these interventions, their purpose being, indeed, to increase world visibility of the city and its capacity to attract investments and visitors. 1 Vice-versa, much more modest attention is

After a critical analysis — as complete as possible — of the main traditional regional approaches of the United States, from the classical « homogeneous spaces » schools to the theoritical attempts concerning the polarisation process, the author tries to describe a new and objective method to analyse the north american contemporary world. A principal components analysis, concerning twenty demographical, economical and social variables, applied to the fifty states, determines three major themes : the socio-economic extremes, the urban poles and the impact of inheritage. The cartographic projection of the results shows six regions : New England, the Old South of Dixie, the Industrial Belt, the Great Plains, the Western Uplands and the North West Pacific, and some specific states like California, Texas and Florida. A general conclusion : the recent tendancy of the homogeneisation of the United States in greater areas is growing. Today, the historical and cultural factors are more important than ever ... in the New World !, Après un examen critique, aussi exhaustif que possible, des principales approches régionales traditionnelles des Etats-Unis (des analyses empiriques de l'école des espaces homogènes à celles des partisans de la polarisation, en passant par certaines méthodes théoriques de détermination d'aires cohérentes...) l'auteur tente un examen objectif des réalités de l'univers contemporain nord-américain. Par le biais d'une analyse en composantes principales, intégrant une vingtaine de variables démographiques, économiques et sociales, appliquées aux cinquantes Etats de l'Union, il met en relief trois plans principaux : les extrêmes socio-économiques, les pôles urbains, les héritages. La projection cartographique de synthèse des résultats aboutit à la détermination de six grands ensembles (la Nouvelle-Angleterre, le Vieux-Sud, l'Industrial Belt, les Grandes Plaines, les Hautes Terres et le Nord-Ouest Pacifique) et de quelques cas d'espèces, comme le Texas, la Californie, la Floride. Une conclusion générale s'impose : la tendance à l'homogénéisation récente des Etats-Unis en vastes ensembles régionaux, affirmant plus nettement que jamais le primat des données historiques et socioculturelles. Bref, la revanche de l'histoire, au sein d'un univers qui, en apparence, semblait en être singulièrement évadé !, Soppelsa Jacques. Contribution à une approche régionale des Etats-Unis contemporains : une revanche de l'histoire . In: Annales de Géographie, t. 95, n°527, 1986. pp. 43-86.