ABSTRACT
Small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs) play a major role in structuring space and hosting inhabitants. They constitute a dense seedling of towns distributed in a homogeneous way across the French territory. Some of them are included in spaces dominated by built-up areas and they contribute to the organization and animation of the activities and relationships of the metropolized areas. By contrast, some others are more or less spatially isolated. However, their autonomy is variable depending on their ability to cope with the influence of major built-up areas (including rather distant ones) or even to play an active role in the organization of the space at a larger territorial scale. Between these extremes, small and medium-sized towns certainly have a peculiar structuring and connecting role to play in the inter-territorial combination of various urban, peripheral and rural spaces (Santamaria, 1999).
