Abstract
This thesis falls within the scope of social and human geography and more exactly of« disability studies ». Understanding the disability like a « social object », the thesis analyzes the societal consideration of disabled people in non-urbanized areas with a high issue of touristic, recreational and patrimonial development. In the first place, it's the recent construction of disability as a social object that is discussed by reminding the history of the societal consideration of the disabled person in our occidental world. The French model and his fundamental rule of global accessibility for ail the domains of the social life are explained and the « Nature and Disability » thematic is more precisely analyzed as a development of an active living ideal for people who are in a disability situation. Secondly, the thesis develops this thematic on the particular field of the Reunion Island and tries to answer to a question which is both simple and complicated: « Today, how we live with a disability on the Reunion Island? ». ln a last time and on the basis of this study of the disability inside a Reunion Island society with accelerated transformations, the thesis specifies the current tendencies with the emergence of new public policies for the welcome of disabled people on natural and touristic areas of the island. To conclude and referring to an original survey, the thesis suggests some tools of evaluation and decision-making aids to these areas.