We were honored to welcome Mr. Jean-Christophe Fromantin, Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, during a conference given on the theme of the metropolis and the territory: national and international stake.
The central issue of this conference was the place of the territory in globalization. The issue was addressed from an economic, environmental and social point of view.
The metropolis brings financialization and standardization of the economy. According to statistics, the metropolis does not have the expected effect in terms of social added value, especially in the areas of security and human welfare.
Pollution (technological innovation cannot compensate for the use of polluting fuels or the construction of fully air-conditioned buildings), loss of identity for the masses of people living in these immense urban complexes are all challenges for the metropolis of tomorrow.
The solution would then be to move towards a distributed economy rather than a centralized one. The metropolis remains only an interface with globalization. Technological evolution can and must allow people to work where they want to live by combining the expansion of the network, the redistribution of populations across the territory and the use of new technologies by the individual as a means of work.
Here is his interview: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmzTGcYXXjY