Migrations et relations interculturelles: les lieux de l'interculturalité

The present article, whose theoretical foundations are based simultaneously on social geography and the progress in ethno-methodology, strives to study places of exchange and transaction between the indigenous and immigrant populations as well as between diverse immigrant groups within the agglomeration of Lausanne. The interest for such "hybrid places" came about from the idea that immigration in urban centres increasingly favours "cultures of mixity" which represent a chief concern in matters of cohabitation and integration of populations in urban areas. This study deals with the nature, the number, the spatial distribution as well as the conditions of emergence (function, attendance, history) of these "intercuftural places" such as associations, clubs and meeting places of all sorts, and also restaurants and shops, It also deals with how these places are perceived and inhabited by different urban actors, foreigners and natives alike.