Plaine Du Var

Although it lacks the traditional conditions that spawn economic development (the soil is poor, there is no shipping), in the last decades of the 20th century the Côte d'Azur achieved massive growth – now to the point of saturation – thanks to its exceptional natural beauty, its climate, culture, and the resulting tourism and migration. However, its development was poorly controlled: since 1970, the built substance of the Riviera has grown 142 percent, with a parallel increase in the population of 52 percent – textbook sprawl, resulting in the over-manipulation and degradation of landscapes, a mediocre built environment, and pollution. Today there is a divorce between environmental and economic concerns.