Des évolutions démographiques rurales contrastées liées à la proximité et aux dynamiques urbaines : le cas de la France

Abstract

Rural Population Changes related to the urban Dynamics and to the Distance to urban Areas: the Case of France. This paper examines the recent demographic change in French rural areas from the results of the new population census (1999). Its aim is to measure the role of urban dynamics on rural population changes. The first part emphasises three main features: the end of rural exodus with a large number of French communes where the population increases; the change differentiation according to various rural categories; the strong geographical inequalities due to the urban proximity and to the population dynamics in the closer urban area. The second part offers an econometric approach aiming a hierarchy of the determinants of commune population changes. Furthermore we are taking into account the processes of local diffusion. The results confirm the roles of the proximity and of the urban dynamics on the rural population changes. But, we also highlight their attenuation as soon as the local diffusion phenomena are integrated: those seems to relay the impulses given from the urban population change to the rural demographic growth. On the other hand, if the role of the urban frame is controlled, the regional differentiation of rural population changes seems to be lower.