Urban communities and environmental management in France: the example of the Toulon Bay Contract

Until the beginning of the 1980s, land planning and urbanization efforts in France were rather centralized. Since the decentralization laws (1982) were enforced, the urban development process is under local control with the development of contracting agreements between the State and territorial communities. Today, environmental protection is one of the major issues at stake in most of the urban communities, as is the case for coastal urban areas like Brest on the Atlantic coast or Toulon on the Mediterranean. This paper elaborates on the Toulon case through the preparation of a Bay Contract, a typical contracting agreement between local, regional and national Authorities about water quality and uses in the frame of an integrated coastal area and river basin approach. Located on the Mediterranean coast, Toulon is also presented as a typical European Mediterranean city.