This section discusses each in turn. It is a medium size agglomeration, with a dense core, close suburban belts, and uneasy relations with local governments in a mostly natural or agricultural hinterland, leading to strong competition and tensions with regards to land use and development. Because in France there is little likelihood of amalgamation and all communes have equal rights and authorities, local policies try to tackle these challenges by forming co-operative communal associations and with the SCoT a common spatial plan.