Human societies historically developed taking advantage of hydrosystems’ resources as well as enduring their unpredictability. The structuration of populations into cities relied for many of them upon the diversity of uses hydrosystems would then create. Although today’s interactions between societies and their local hydrosystems seem to weaken and to standardize, there is a need to reconsider the appreciation of river areas in light of contemporary socio-environmental stakes. Joining the research movement on river-societies interactions, a PhD research project is conducted to better understand the status of small hydrosystems within small cities of the Western part of France. It considers the limited yet growing knowledge on ordinary landscapes such as small cities (2000-20000 inhabitants) and smaller rivers (below 7th order Strahler streams) that still compose a great portion of France. Our field study, the French department of the Maine-et-Loire, is largely representative of these characteristics and is well known for being a region with an important cultural heritage around the Loire valley. Through the study of four cities located in diverse environments (from floodplain areas to enclosed valleys) and facing specific challenges (in terms of demographic, economic, environmental changes) we aim to question the place of river areas in the city at different timesteps. This presentation will focus on a series of interviews that have been conducted with local stakeholders whose activities interact with river areas. These interviews take an interest in understanding the values attributed to the hydrosystems, the way they are manage locally as well as the ways stakeholders interact with each other, thus questioning the integration of hydrosystems within the territorial project. First results will emphasize on the importance of property regime, esthetics and new mobilities, as well as representatives’ perceptions in characterizing river-cities relationships.

Human societies historically developed taking advantage of hydrosystems’ resources as well as enduring their unpredictability. The structuration of populations into cities relied for many of them upon the diversity of uses hydrosystems would then create. Although today’s interactions between societies and their local hydrosystems seem to weaken and to standardize, there is a need to reconsider the appreciation of river areas in light of contemporary socio-environmental stakes. Joining the research movement on river-societies interactions, a PhD research project is conducted to better understand the status of small hydrosystems within small cities of the Western part of France. It considers the limited yet growing knowledge on ordinary landscapes such as small cities (2000-20000 inhabitants) and smaller rivers (below 7th order Strahler streams) that still compose a great portion of France. Our field study, the French department of the Maine-et-Loire, is largely representative of these characteristics and is well known for being a region with an important cultural heritage around the Loire valley. Through the study of four cities located in diverse environments (from floodplain areas to enclosed valleys) and facing specific challenges (in terms of demographic, economic, environmental changes) we aim to question the place of river areas in the city at different timesteps. This presentation will focus on a series of interviews that have been conducted with local stakeholders whose activities interact with river areas. These interviews take an interest in understanding the values attributed to the hydrosystems, the way they are manage locally as well as the ways stakeholders interact with each other, thus questioning the integration of hydrosystems within the territorial project. First results will emphasize on the importance of property regime, esthetics and new mobilities, as well as representatives’ perceptions in characterizing river-cities relationships.