Jean-Philippe Leresche

The emergence of the ‘Lemanique metropole’: a process of apprenticeship

Abstract How can a fruitful public discussion on the metropolitan question be organized in the context of strong local resistance against the whole idea? Based on the example of the ‘Lemanique metropole’, this article shows the inherent difficulties of such a debate, especially when the polycentric metropolitan structure is segmented by three kinds of institutional divisions: communal, cantonal and national. It seems that the local authorities of the three agglomerations affected by the metropolitan phenomenon (Geneva, Lausanne and Vevey/Montreux), do not reason or take into account the Lemanique metropolis as a whole. Only in the mass media and among experts has a sudden awareness of the interdependence of these agglomerations been shown. The debate has so far been structured around three false dichotomies: established fact and project, metropolis and conviviality, metropolis and region. The difficulty of thinking about and expressing the real issues at stake in the metropolitan debate (democracy, citizenship, segregation and disparities) underlines the novelty of the problem in the Swiss context and the strengths of local resistance.