This chapter concentrates on institutional differences in France and Germany. The stability of the German institutional setting contrasts with the series of institutional reforms that have stretched over decades or even half a century in France. While in Germany transformation has taken the form...

Germany and France offer two different models of political and administrative organisation: a federal state on one side of the Rhine and a unitary state on the other, albeit one that has become more decentralised over the last 40 years. Thus, the French régions have reduced capacities for...

In the field of urban and regional planning, France and Germany have shown several analogies since the beginning of the modern age. However, there is still a difference between more centralised governance processes (France) and a stronger position of the municipalities (Germany). But the...

The evolution of city regions and metropolises in both countries illustrates the theoretical debates on this particular geographical object. Political legitimacy, significant autonomy and a 'relevant' territorial area should form the basis of these regions. But there is a long way to go from...

The situation, development lines and perspectives of small and medium-sized towns in Germany and France are compared and similarities and differences within the central place systems and the spatial planning of both countries are discussed. With different approaches to definition, these towns...

Quite apart from the diversity of situations in small and medium-sized towns, stabilising their town centres is a major challenge. In both countries, town centres have been weakened by commercial changes, a decline in the supply of services and transformations in lifestyles. They are...

This chapter is devoted to mobility in France and Germany. First, key mobility indicators for the two countries are presented. This shows that private motorised transport still dominates in both France and Germany. Despite many negative effects on the climate, but also on health and quality of...

Sustainability and participation have become two priorities of urban policies. They are usually considered perfectly synergistic, but they are not. This chapter aims to disentangle the imbroglio of sustainability coupled with participatory processes in the theory and practice of urban planning...

A full digital transformation is unfolding and great hopes are vested in the potentials of digital tools for communication and visualisation in planning processes, for analysing and modelling spatial information, and also for managing whole cities and regions. However, actual practices differ...

Over the past thirty years, new forms and mechanisms of governance have multiplied in the border regions of Europe. The French-German border has seemed to distinguish itself as an early adopter of new cooperation frameworks, often instigated by developments on the European level on the one hand...