ABSTRACT
The Napoleonic family is the label that best describes the French planning system (Newman and Thornley, 1996, pp. 27-76). The French planning system is largely shaped by a national codified law (Code de l’Urbanisme et l’Habitat). Historically, its roots go back to the French Revolution, and it could until recently have been characterized as very centralistic. At present there are four levels of government involved in physical planning: state, region (22 on the continent and 4 overseas), département (100) and commune (36 666). The state produces national laws and guidelines. The national ministry responsible for local and regional planning has local offices in the larger metropolitan areas. The local representatives (préfets) of the national government exercise a strong influence over local authorities. At the intercommunal level a planning framework may be provided by a cooperative master directive plan (SDAU). The master directive plan defines the general orientation of planning objectives applicable to a defined number of communes, which can be considerable. The SDAU of Lyon, for example, consists of 71 communes (ISOCARP, 1992, pp. 71-80).
