En 1995, le CNRS, groupe de recherche sur les activités commerciales ainsi que la commission de géographie des activités commerciales de l'Union Géographique Internationale "UGI" rédigeaient pour le compte de l'Université de Bretagne les actes d'un colloque européen intitulé les nouveaux acteurs du commerce et leur stratégie spatiale. Ce travail, synthèse d'experts fait état dans ses conclusions de cinq faits majeurs formulés par les acteurs eux-mêmes. Nous les reprenons ici quinze ans après sous forme d'interrogation ils éclaireront et enrichiront la problématique développée dans cette introduction : 1. le développement et le maintien de la plupart des espaces commerçants est il de plus en plus dépendant de la stratégie des acteurs ? 2. Parmi eux, les professionnels de l'immobilier et les grands groupes de commerce ont-ils de plus en plus d'influence ? 3. L'arbitrage des Pouvoirs Publics s'avère dès lors davantage fondamental mais le rôle de ces derniers est il de plus en plus difficile ? 4. Les consommateurs peuvent ils aussi intervenir par des choix conscients et cohérents ? 5. Les évolutions récentes dualisent t'elles de plus en plus des espcaces commerçants en produisant des pôles gagnants et des pôles perdants ? Le titre de cette thèse trouve ainsi son sens dans la continuité de travaux commencés dès les années 1970 face à l'émergence de la grande distribution révolution commerciale pour le monde commerçant. En 2010 face à cette nouvelle révolution que constitue les Technologies de l'information et de la communication pour le monde du commerce y a-t'il une certaine permanence dans les stratégies spatiales autant que sociale de nos acteurs ? Bien entendu la recherche en géographie commerciale s'est déjà largement interrogée sur le "rôle des acteurs" mais nous nous interrogeons aujourd'hui à un maillon particulier (nous verrons s'il est essentiel) de l'espace centre-ville : L'Assistant Technique au Commerce ! Bien plus qu'un homme du marketing qui fonde son travail sur la recherche de cohérence entre l'offre et la demande, l'Assistant Technique avant tout acteur de terrain, travaille au spatial : souhaitons que le géographe trouve quelque intérêt à la lecture de ces travaux / In 1995, the CNRS research group on commercial activities and the geographic commission on commercial activities drafted a European conference report entitled “Who the are the new stakeholders in commerce and what is their spatial strategy?” This report, written by experts, poin ts out five major aspects which the stakeholders themselves had expressed. We are taking up these conclusions in this study and questioning their relevance 15 years later. They will help clarify the issues we are going to develop in this thesis. 1. Is keeping and developing commercial sites more and more dependent on the stakeholders' strategy? 2. Are real estate agents and big commercial groups the ones with the most influence? 3. Is the role of government institutions becoming more difficult as they arbitrate more? 4. Do consumers also intervene by making conscious and cogent choices? 5. Have recent developments polarised the commercial sites into winners and losers? The title of this thesis therefore reflects a continuity with studies that were started back in the 1970s when big retailing groups emerged and brought about a commercial revolution for all retailers. In 2010, following the revolution in information and communication technologies, are we witnessing a certain permanence in the stakeholders' spatial and social strategies? Research in commercial geography has already looked into the stakeholders' role but we are focusing today on a particular feature of the town centre and will see how essential it is : the Technical Assistant for Commerce

The word revise means to reconsider or modify as with text. If we think of the suburban landscape as a text, the culture of each era left documentation of their values, policies and way of life in the form of transportation networks and other infrastructure, such as Main Streets, squares and public buildings. While evidence of most of the everyday life of individuals of every era gets erased by the following era, infrastructure investments of each era are adaptively reused and remain to tell the story. This thesis documents the adaptive reuse of these suburban frameworks and develops a proposition for the appropriate next layer to accommodate a new culture of inhabitants. Focusing on second generation suburbs, using Gwinnett County as a case study, this analysis identifies three problems of the current suburban situation: the problem of abandoned strips, a demographic shift, and the need for place. As new strip highways develop, old strips decline leaving abandoned shopping centers and declining property values. New development continues to move north and out of the county, and middle class residents, for which existing auto-oriented suburbs were created, move as well. A new, poorer, and more ethnically diverse population inherits the auto-oriented landscape left behind. This phenomenon is particularly concentrated along the southern portion of the Buford Highway corridor. Those with more money move closer to new development, while those with less money have less choice and are found near declining strips with fewer services, poorer quality housing and lower quality of life. Finally, county officials have expressed a desire for defining "the epicenter of Gwinnett." I believe that there is no one "center" of Gwinnett, but a series of places defined by memory, design or events. I propose to improve the situation of these three problems with a light rail line that connects existing places and creates new walkable, livable places to improve quality of life. This connective piece will serve as a social condenser in lieu of a center, provide links between polar populations, and reactivate declining strips while creating a sustainable infrastructural spine for future growth in the region.