Routes de poste et petites villes au tournant des 18ème et 19ème siècles en France : analyses de graphe et modélisations

Résumé En

The 18th century constitutes a major change in the relation between small cities and roads. This work is based on two different databases, the nodes of the postal roads digitalized at different dates between 1708 and 1833 and the populations of cities between 1700 and 1831 (the smallest cities being under-represented in these sources in the beginning of the period). Using different indicators or statistical models, we are interested in two different patterns that emerge in the second half of the 18th century: A dramatic change in the functional relation space, with the shrinking of the north of France and the circumvention of mountains; An integration city networks at a French scale, through a top-down process (the emergence of new hub cities that become necessary transport stages for luxury trade) and a bottom-up process (the emergence of the new administrative “chefs-lieux” after the Revolution). These different analyses are based on theoretical hypothesis suggested by historians, such as Bernard Lepetit.