Etudier les dynamiques et enjeux au sein d’un village de montagne, en Savoie, engendre une réflexion plus générale sur des questionnements importants de l’époque contemporaine. Jean-Marc Villermet a choisi d’aborder ce sujet pour plusieurs raisons : son attachement à cette région, la proximité des archives, le désir de réactiver le chantier de l’aménagement du territoire en altitude.Il s’intéressa à une région désertée, bien que située dans un espace montagnard réputé pour la qualité de ses sites dans une dimension internationale. Jamais la transformation et les mutations économiques et sociales des zones montagnardes en difficulté, souvent qualifiées d’immobiles, n’ont véritablement été étudiées pour elles-mêmes sous cet angle. Cela semblait donc une piste à la fois nouvelle et tout à fait digne d’intérêt ; d’autant que, situé en Maurienne, le territoire sur lequel se pencha l’auteur demeure aujourd’hui marginal, à l’écart des grands flux touristiques.Ainsi, à partir des années 1860, période où la Savoie devint française jusqu’aux mutations du XXIe siècle, Jean-Marc Villermet a voulu montrer toute la relativité des concepts classiques, voire datés, d’immobilisme ou d’archaïsme, y compris pour un espace montagnard « en souffrance ». Il en étudia les métamorphoses dans toute leur complexité.Cette analyse fine vise à comprendre comment les processus économiques et sociaux ont été portés, vécus et perçus par les individus et comment ils se sont manifestés dans l’espace. Le terrain choisi, l’espace Grand Arc - Lauzière, identifié par le village de Montsapey, dans le canton d’Aiguebelle, sur la rive droite de l’Arc, répond aux critères recherchés : ceux d’une région d’altitude traversée par la déprise rurale depuis un siècle, relativement isolée, bordée en amont et en aval par d’autres territoires beaucoup plus dynamiques.La démarche adoptée se situe au carrefour de plusieurs écoles historiques. Se référant au changement dans sa globalité, ce travail se nourrit des enseignements des grandes thèses classiques d’histoire relatives aux mutations économiques et sociales. Par ailleurs, se réclamant de la micro histoire, l’auteur en utilise les apports et les éclairages.Les sources exploitées proviennent du dépôt des archives départementales de la Savoie et des archives communales sur le territoire étudié. Celles-ci sont confrontées aux documents émanant de différents centres d’archives à Paris. La presse nationale et régionale apporte des éclairages intéressants. Un important travail de collecte d’archives privées a également été effectué, complété par la réalisation de nombreux entretiens et d’un abondant recours à l’iconographie.Proposée dans la première partie de la thèse, l’analyse d’un territoire montagnard a priori fermé, mais en réalité ouvert sur le monde, s’avère riche d’enseignements. Jean-Marc Villermet s’est attaché à démontrer l’importance des mouvements de population en montagne dans une dimension nationale et internationale ; la circulation des hommes et des idées. Il s’agit d’évaluer les conséquences des mouvements migratoires sur l’aménagement du territoire. Les permanences et les « archaïsmes » qui perdurèrent furent accompagnés de regards neufs portés sur la montagne lorsque les hommes explorent les formes, franchissent les reliefs par la voie aérienne et souterraine ou extraient des richesses minérales.La deuxième partie est consacrée aux inéluctables tensions qui perdurèrent pour aménager le territoire : entre offre et demande de montagne. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, à l’heure de l’essor des stations de sports d’hiver dans les Alpes, soixante-dix ans de projections permirent d’élaborer des stratégies variées pour dynamiser la pente aux portes de la Maurienne. Des activités économiques pérennes furent envisagées même si elles laissèrent peu de traces durablement. La montagne constitue-t-elle alors un espace de conquête ou d’abandon ? Il y a peut-être de nouveaux concepts à imaginer. / Analysing spatial dynamics and major issues in a mountain village needs to carry out a general review. Jean-Marc Villermet has chosen to study this subject for many reasons : his attachment to the area, public records going back to centuries, and a desire to promote land-use planning at high altitude.His interrest to an abandoned area, even though part of a famous wild space, is consistent with an international focus. All economic, technical and societal developments forcing mentalities and practices to change, have not yet been studied or evaluated from this perspective in moutain areas in trouble, often qualified as unmovable. This clearly is an interesting new lead to follow up on, in at much this area studied by the author remains marginal, out of the major tourism flows.In this way, from the 1860s, date of the french Savoy period, to the beginning of the XXIst century, Jean-Marc Villermet wishes to demonstrate a significant impact on relativity of conventional concepts challenging the status quo, absolute inaction, archaic procedures concerning this remaining action mountain area. The transformation must be assessed with a thorough understanding of this complexity.The narrow consideration of territories also aims to discover the economic and social process implemented, experienced and seen by different groups in society and how they occupied the territorial space. This area, Grand-Arc-Lauziere mountain, identified by Montsapey, a balcony nestled on the Arc river valley, meets the search criteria : a high-altitude isolated land subjected to an over century-long rural decline, impacted upstream and downstream by much more dynamic territories.The approach adopted is at the crossroads of historical trends. Refering to a global change, this study capitalizes on the experience and knowledge that has been accumulated under many PhDs in economic and social history. Availling himself of the micro-history, the author uses its benefits shedding light on the matter.Sources come from records filed with the local and departmental archives, faced with national archives in Paris. The national and regional daily newspapers bring a different approach. A substancial data collection was performed, supplemented with additional interviews and images.As suggested in the first part of the study, analysing major issues in a mountain village, both a closed territory and a land opened up to the World, offers a detailed and insightful account of history. Jean-Marc Villermet is committed to show the huge population swift towards cities with a national and international perspective, movements of people and flows of information. This study evaluates how migratory flows affect land-use planning. Archaic conditions and outdated practices were accompagnied by new perspectives, when people explored the mountains from the air or tunnels and underpasses, to extract mineral resources.The second part is dedicated to the ineluctable tensions that continued : the balance of supply and demand and changes in patterns of mountain request. After World War II, at a time where ski resorts were built in the French Alps, during seventy years, many essential coordinated strategies were prepared to stimulate sustainable, long-term and effective activities on the slope of the mountains around Montsapey. Today, does it reflect the values of a community on a conquered territory or a derelicted place ? An original creative effective concept has to be imagined for the future.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-149).

The purpose with this thesis is to explore the urban landscape in post-apartheid Johannesburg, investigate the concept of the growing numbers of various types of urban villages and moreover look into the open urban village of Parkhurst. The main questions that are addressed in the thesis are: How would the urban landscape in post-apartheid Johannesburg be described and which types of urban villages can be identified? What would the residents in Parkhurst explain to be the reasons for living in an open urban village and what are their opinions on safety, public space and closed urban villages? Qualitative methods were used as in observation studies and inductive in-depth interviews during the field study in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. The study shows that the concept of urban villages can create both a negative spatial situation and a positive spatial situation – depending on the type of urban village. The thesis also shows that it is possible to feel safe living in a open urban village in a city with high crime and that thoughtful design and effective management of spaces in the city are essential factors that can prevent places from becoming ‘hot spots’ for crime.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 458-485).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Cornell University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

La thèse constitue une analyse physique, sociale et économique du paysage de deux villages himalayens de l’Inde (Uttarakhand) : Darkot et Sharmoli, par rapport au bourg voisin de Munsiyari qui jouit de fonctions administratives, commerciales et touristiques. Sharmoli est plus proche de Munsiyari, tandis que Darkot est distant de 7 km, et à une altitude plus basse. 173 ménages furent enquêtés. Les villages sont peuplés de Bhotias (classés Scheduled Tribes mais hindous de haute caste), Thakurs (haute caste) et ex-intouchables (Scheduled Castes). Les Bhotias pratiquaient le commerce avec le Tibet, et les autres castes étaient en position de dominés, mais à partir de 1962, avec l’arrêt du commerce et le transfert des terres des Bhotias aux Thakurs leurs anciens métayers, nombre de changements sont apparus dans la vie physique, sociale et économique des deux villages. Darkot est un village très ancien où les structures de caste, de religion et les hiérarchies demeurent très visibles dans les espaces publics comme privés, tandis que Sharmoli, construit il y a 4 ou 5 décennies, est moins marqué. Les habitants des deux villages adoptent de nouveaux types de maisons, avec de nouveaux matériaux de construction et un changement d’utilisation des pièces. Mais l’utilisation du sol à Sharmoli est marquée par le tourisme, au contraire de Darkot. L’agriculture dépasse le seuil de subsistance dans les deux cas. La majorité des hommes des deux villages est engagée dans les services (commerce) mais très peu comme fonctionnaires. L’âge moyen des actifs dans les villages dépasse 40 ans, ce qui signale l’émigration des jeunes vers les villes et la présence d’un grand nombre de retraités, notamment à Darkot. Le revenu par tête dépasse le seuil de pauvreté (3 $ par jour), mais pourrait être supérieur si les qualifications étaient supérieures et les opportunités dans les villages plus abondantes. Les femmes, notamment Bhotia, travaillent souvent dans l’artisanat, et les chambres d’hôte sont devenues une bonne source de revenu pour des ménages de Sharmoli. Globalement, le système clientéliste entre les Bhotias et les deux autres castes a disparu. Mais le paysage social de Darkot témoigne de plus d’orthodoxie dans l’espace public, puisque la religion, le temple, la caste jouent un rôle important en comparaison avec Sharmoli où dominent des fêtes modernes et profanes. La situation des femmes n’est pas très bonne dans aucun des villages, et des factions existent, notamment entre Bhotias et Thakurs. Au final, Darkot comme Sharmoli montrent les caractéristiques de la tradition et de la modernité, à travers l’analyse socio-économique des espaces privés et publics. / The thesis revolves around the physical, social and economic analysis of the landscape of two Himalayan villages in Uttarakhand, India: of Darkot and Sharmoli with respect to the core Munsiyari which exhibits administrative, market and tourism functions. Sharmoli is located near the core while Darkot is situated at a distance of 7 kms. and at a lower height than Sharmoli. The villages are inhabited by Bhotias (scheduled tribe as well as high-caste Hindus), Thakurs (high-caste Hindus) and lower-caste (scheduled castes) people. Around 173 families belonging to different castes are surveyed in the two villages. Bhotias used to practice trade with Tibet and the other two castes were their subordinates, but after 1962 with the stoppage of trade and transfer of Bhotias’ land to the tiller Thakurs, a lot of changes have come about in the physical, social and economic life of both the villages. The analysis of the landscape of Darkot and Sharmoli shows that Darkot is a very old village with the presence of elements of caste, religion, hierarchy etc. in its settlement pattern of private and public spaces, while Sharmoli has been constructed in the last 4-5 decades with a lower degree of influence of social and physical factors. The inhabitants of both the villages are adopting modern-design and new types of houses with contemporary construction materials while the uses of rooms are changing as per need. Land in the Sharmoli is used more for tourism-related activities which are absent in case of Darkot, while agriculture is far from subsistence level in both the villages. Majority of the male inhabitants of both the villages are engaged in service sector activities such as labour, business, private jobs etc. while very few are in government services. The average age of the earner in both the villages is beyond 40 years which shows the out-migration of young people to the towns and cities along with the presence of a large number of pensioners, esp. in Darkot. Though the villagers are not poor with regard to per-capita income, yet their earnings are lower (i.e. around $3 per day) because of poor educational qualifications and skills, along with lack of good opportunities in the villages. Women (esp. of Bhotia caste) are engaged in handicrafts while home-stays have come up as a new and good source of income for the families in Sharmoli. Overall, the patron-client relationship between Bhotias and the other two castes in economic terms has been loosened. The social landscape of Darkot depicts more orthodoxy in public space as religion, temple, caste play an important role in Darkot in comparison to Sharmoli where modern cultural and secular festivals dominate the landscape. The situation of women is not very good in both the villages while the caste factions (esp. among Bhotias and Thakurs) are clearly visible. Hence, both Darkot and Sharmoli depict characteristics of tradition and modernity depending upon the social and economic analysis of private and public spaces.

The thesis discusses suburban villages (and, indirectly, also villages that are even further away from urban areas), their current character, and their changes over the course of history. Most Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian municipalities struggle with persistent issues, such as the decline of their primarily agrarian function (and the unattractiveness of this lifestyle for the younger generations), changes in demographic composition (the exodus of natives to cities, and their replacement by “weekenders“), the lower purchase power of rural areas (due to lower wages in agriculture and the lack of other job opportunities), insufficient traffic infrastructure, unclear property relations, the loss of their own identity due to the closeness of a core city, and uncontrolled suburbanisation which transforms both villages and their environment. The end effects of these issues are depopulation of rural areas, ageing of current inhabitants and unfavourable prospects for the future. On the other hand, the situation in neighbouring Bavaria seems to be the exact opposite. Bavaria hasn't experienced collectivisation, and a communist dictatorship hasn't cut the ties of local inhabitants towards their lands and properties which have been in their families for centuries. Many issues encountered in the Czech Republic are therefore unknown here, and villages that happen to be near urban areas tend to grow in a natural way while retaining their original rural and local identities. The superior infrastructure network enables better mobility of the populace, which allows the people to commute longer distances. However, they can still spend their time in their actual place of residence, and they often proudly consider themselves a part of the local social life and of the local community – not of the core city. Therefore the goal of the thesis is to compare Czech and Bavarian villages in terms of sustainable development, using specific examples, to analyse which elements are better in which system, and to compare whether it is possible to apply the principles of sustainability which are used in Bavaria to the sustainable development of Czech countryside.

Dans le Bas-Languedoc de la seconde moitié du XIVe siècle, avec l’aggravation de la guerre franco-anglaise, l’insécurité devient permanente à cause de l’incursion des armées anglo-gasconnes et du pillage des routiers, et augmentent les exigences royales liées à l’état de guerre : fortification, mobilisation et taxation. Quel impact la guerre a-t-elle sur le village ? Comment les villageois répondent-ils à ce nouvel environnement caractérisé par l’insécurité montante et par la pression accrue de la fiscalité royale ? La guerre ne suscite-t-elle pas une profonde transformation de la société villageoise ? Notre thèse a pour objectif d’éclaircir le fonctionnement et le changement du gouvernement villageois face à la guerre dans la seconde moitié du XIVe siècle. Nous avons choisi comme les objets centraux de notre recherche deux villages : Sérignan et Vendres. Ceux-ci se trouvent à proximité de Béziers, dans le Biterrois, au centre du Bas-Languedoc. Avant tout, ces deux villages conservent les comptes consulaires les plus volumineux du Biterrois de la seconde moitié du XIVe siècle, qui contiennent de riches renseignements sur la société, en général, et des individus, en particulier. En vue d’étudier le village en guerre, se posent quatre pistes de recherche : 1. Actions défensives de la communauté villageoise ; 2. Emprise de la guerre sur les finances villageoises ; 3. Politique et administration au sein du village ; 4. Relations extérieures de la communauté villageoise. Les valeurs du gouvernement villageois dans le Biterrois de la seconde moitié du XIVe siècle peuvent être résumées en trois mots : liberté, équité, généralité. C’est-à-dire la liberté politique contre les pouvoirs extérieurs, l’équité fiscale au sein de la communauté, le consensus général entre les habitants. / In Bas-Languedoc of the latter half of the XIVth century, with the aggravation of the French-English war, the insecurity becomes normalized because of the incursion of the Anglo-Gascon army and of the pillage of the campaigners, and the royal demands ― fortification, mobilization and taxation ― increase in relation with the state of war. What impact does the war make on the village? How do the villagers respond to this new and unprecedented environment characterized by the mounting insecurity and the huge pressure of the royal taxation? Doesn’t the war spark off a profound transformation of the village society? The objective of our thesis is to shed light on the functioning and the reorganizing of village government in face of the war during the latter half of the XIVth century. We have chosen as the central objects of our research two villages: Sérignan and Vendres. These are situated near Béziers, in Biterrois, in the middle of Bas-Languedoc. Above all, these two villages conserve the consular account books, which are the most voluminous in Biterrois of the latter half of the XIVth century and contain rich and significant information about the society and individual villagers. In order to study the villages in wartime, we take four courses of research: 1. defensive actions of the village community; 2. influence of the war on the village finance; 3. politics and administration inside the village; 4. external relations of the village community. The values of village government in Biterrois of the latter half of the XIVth century can be summarized in three words: liberty, equity, and ‘‘generality’’. That is to say, the political liberty against external powers, the fiscal equity inside the community, and the general consensus among inhabitants.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / At the turn of the twentieth century, the movement to improve care of those afflicted with epilepsy reached Indiana. In 1905, the Indiana legislature passed an act creating the Indiana Village for Epileptics, thus beginning the segregation of epileptics from the rest of the state's population. Placing epileptics in colonies was considered a progressive solution to a centuries old medical ailment. This thesis will examine the Indiana Village for Epileptics from its inception until the retirement of the first superintendent, Dr. Walter C. Van Nuys. Van Nuys' tenure was so long-he stepped down in 1952-that the Village had become an outdated and unnecessary institution because of advances in medical treatments for the disease. The age of segregation had ended and epileptics were no longer seen as a menace to society.

In 1937, Howe Sound Company built the town of Holden, Washington, to support its copper-mining operation at Copper Peak, located in the North Cascade Mountains, approximately 10 miles west of Lake Chelan. The operation produced concentrate from 1937 to 1957, during which time the town was home to a lively community featuring many families, a variety of organized recreational activities, and a public school. It was a company town, in which most property, business, organized activity, and public utilities and services were either directly or indirectly controlled by Howe Sound. After the operation shut down in 1957, the town was abandoned. Three years later, the property was donated to the Lutheran Bible Institute of Issaquah, Washington. It subsequently became Holden Village, an independent, non-profit Lutheran retreat center. Though different in purpose and character from the community that preceded it, life in Holden Village during its formative years (the 1960s and, to a lesser extent, the 1970s), and in the 2010s, was and is similar in a number of ways to life in the mining town. This thesis argues that Holden Village, too, might be considered a company town within a loose definition of the term. The many parallels between the two communities support this argument, and point to the role of the remote setting and the environment in shaping the lives of the town's residents.