Path at present :how rural path reveal changing public policy towards rural landscapes

Résumé En

Paths are a central feature in rural landscape structures and functions. Path and tracks gives an access to landscapes either for working purpose (agriculture, forestry...) or leisure purpose (any kind of rambling). But path network is also constitutive of landscape structure so that its evaluation reveals landscape dynamics, and at local scale path is a landscape in itself especially in sunken road and so call “bocage” landscape, as in the case study of Brittany. Public policy for intensive agriculture in the decades 1950-1980 lead to path removal, network mutation and also private appropriation. More recently (1980-2008), the increasing demand concerning access to the countryside and outside leisure tend to bring back rural path into local planning and public policies, reinforce either the right of access and potential conflicts of use. Path maintenance taking into account environmental and landscape impact evaluation is now especially important for planners and searchers and some methods are here proposed. Coherence with other public policies are rarely organised: hedgerows plantation is a good example as subsides for new hedgerows and subsides for new footpaths are rarely linked, despite the evident gains in terms of landscape, social, economic and ecological efficiency. Path network dynamics and planning are also very revealing of spatial and social inequalities at different scales. At local scale in rural communes, the density of path network falls down in agrarian landscapes and the new structures are restricted to a hierarchical network with lots of cul-de-sac only connected to the main road. On the contrary, around villages new “green ways” interconnected created a dense potential of social mobility and access. At regional scale, if public policy has reinforce the density of path on the coast according to the increasing tourist demand, in the same time poor rural area have an active bottom up participation to maintain local footpath as a cheep and traditional leisure witch also shows how inhabitants are sensible to their landscapes.