Annales de Géographie - Année 1969 - Volume 78 - Numéro 426 - Pages 131-157PLANNING THE NEW FRENCH UNIVERSITIES. - Abstract. - Between now and 1975 the changes which are taking place in French universities will be completed. These changes involve a process of making them more democratic and of modifying their structures. New faculties are being built in about thirty different towns. The government is responsible for planning, but it does so without any precise doctrine. Regulations and questions of finance put obstacles in the way of initiative. In Paris the development is markedly in favour of the suburbs and of the neighbouring regions. The provincial universities are, proportionately speaking, developing more rapidly. New building is increasingly taking the form of campuses. Many of them are faculties of science, others are huge and contain many faculties. They are located in the suburbs and raise many serious problems which have hitherto been underestimated. How can universities which are cut off from the towns spread their influence ? How can the life of the students be organised if they are isolated in «ghettos» ? The campuses, which are too functional, separated from city life and packed into enclaves, are in fact adminis trative structures. Their space absorbing architecture hinders human contact and their size prevents their integration with city life. They must be planned as open university districts with close connections with the towns. The new university town of Orleans II, known as the «Oxford of France», offers another but more expensive solution. LES NOUVEAUX ENSEMBLES UNIVERSITAIRES FRANCAIS. - Résumé. - L'université française accomplit d'ici à 1975 sa mutation: démocratisation et changement des structures. Dans une trentaine de villes se construisent de nouvelles facultés. Le gouvernement planifie, mais sans doctrine précise; les règlements, les crédits entravent les initiatives. A Paris, c'est l'éclatement au profit des banlieues et des académies voisines; les universités de province progressent plus vite en proportion. Un urbanisme nouveau se répand, sous la forme de campus. Beaucoup sont scientifiques; quelques-uns sont géants (plus de 100 ha) et polyvalents. Ils se situent en banlieue et posent de graves problèmes encore sous-estimés: comment faire rayonner des universités coupées de la ville et organiser la vie d'étudiants isolés en «ghettos»? Trop fonctionnels, exurbanisés, enclavés, les campus forment des structures administratives. Leur architecture aérée gêne les contacts humains et leurs dimensions empêchent l'iintégration urbaine. Il faudrait les aménager en quartiers universitaires ouverts, bien reliés à la ville. La ville neuve universitaire d'Orléans II, appelée l' «Oxford français», offre une autre solution, plus coûteuse. 27 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.