Vers une gestion de l'eau plus" durable"? Les enjeux des mutations de la gestion de l'eau et du foncier dans la métropole de Los Angeles

This dissertation analyzes the current debate in Southern California on water supply and land use planning in major development projects. Developers and local authorities claim that these developments are more “sustainable” than the traditional urbanism of the region. Numerous opponents, who argue that current practices are still characterized by excessive water use and other environmental damages, contest these claims. These controversies take place against the backdrop of perceived growing political, environmental and economic threats to the region’s water supply. We discuss the changes and elements of continuity in the current evolutions, and analyze their environmental, political and social consequences. We thus build a critique of“sustainability” and “environmental protection”, by showing how these notions are socially and politically shaped in given geographical contexts.