Abstract
My contribution begins with a definition of rent in a theoretical and critical context, drawing specifically on the analyses of the geographer David Harvey. The notion is then applied to several case studies. A geohistory of the areas around stations links the rent, exchange value and use value of these urban spaces. Recently, the study of urban projects around high-speed train (HST) stations set out to deconstruct the lure of maximising rent, promised by the insurance value of the stations. In dynamic metropolitan areas (Paris Gare du Nord), maximising rent is detrimental to the way places function (decline in use value). In towns that are growing without development (Perpignan), high rents have limitations. This is due to the inappropriateness of the mainstream strategies used to enhance their appeal, which are copied from major cities and governed by the rules of international finance. As a result, the exchange value also falls: the insurance value of the HST station is a necessary condition for launching an action, but is not enough to guarantee urban rents. Therefore, areas around stations constitute a sound basis – temporary and labile – for capital in the city, which illustrates the notion of ‘spatial fix’, developed by David Harvey.The conclusion points to the potential of alternative tools for constructing the city, which counter the perverse effects of rents, particularly the fact that they benefit a handful of actors to the detriment of the common good. Recent French initiatives (“Foncières solidaires”), inspired by American Community Land Trusts, use emphyteutic leases to limit land speculation, by decoupling land ownership (it is collective under the land trust) from the ownership of the walls (private, individual). This makes housing far more affordable for modest households.