Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire - Année 1990 - Volume 27 - Numéro 1 - Pages 97-106Writing a contemporary history of urbanism, Rémi Baudoui, Alain Faure, Annie Fourcaut, Martine Morel, Danièle Woldman. Are the historian's tools adequate to grasp the industrial and post-industrial city ? The French historiographie tradition seems to have met an obstacle, for its production in this field is relatively underdeveloped. Defining the object of urban history precisely, looking for explicanatory keys to the processes which operate in the large urban areas, finding appropriate methods which would claim for the contribution of the other disciplines could open up wide research fields. 10 pages Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.