City and River in the Garonne Valley: The Geohistory of a Renewed Space (Toulouse, Agen, Bordeaux)

Sixty-five towns exist in the Garonne Valley, and their origins and locations are the result of multiple historical factors. Today’s urban river landscape is strongly marked by different flood control policies as well as different actions aimed at enhancing river resources. It is possible to identify five stages in the geohistory of Garonne urban river landscapes since the Roman period. The last began about twenty years ago, following a period of rejection of the river, with the cities of Toulouse, Agen, and Bordeaux developing policies to reconnect with the Garonne through the requalification of the river front. The Garonne becomes a source of landscape amenities centered around leisure and cultural activities. This reconquest was initially centered essentially in the old city centers, but urban regeneration has today broadened to a larger metropolitan scale (metropolis) that includes many other initiatives.