A doctor in economics and accredited to supervise research, I am currently 1st class research professor at the INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research), involved in Agro Paris Tech and guest lecturer in several French Universities. My research was for a long time at the cross roads of spatial and industrial economics; It has in recent years become more multi-disciplinary and focused increasingly on questions related to land use planning and territorial development processes. I have published many articles and a few books , mostly on issues related to space and coordination between people or groups of people.
My research currently focuses on the analysis of proximity relations and on their importance in processes of coordination between people. It centres on two main areas:

• Local interactions between innovative firms and, more particularly, the role played by geographical proximity in the transfer of knowledge;
• Land use and neighbourhood conflicts. This multidisciplinary approach aims to identify and define conflicts, as well as the different ways of managing and solving them.

My involvement in research administration has led me to take on the roles of vice-President of ERSA (the European Regional Science Association), of Director of the PSDR (For and About Regional development) research programs and of managing editor of the Revue d’Economie Régionale et Urbaine (Journal of Regional and Urban Economics). I am also past President of the ASRDLF (French Speaking Regional Science Association).