Presented as a "rupture pact" (pacte de rupture), this document outlines twelve measures supposed to mark an ecological and social turning point for the city. Upon reading, a central question arises: a break with what, and by what means?

While some proposals respond to very real emergencies, many remain formulated at the level of intention, without specifying operational objectives, mobilized resources, or the trade-offs involved. However, in public policy, the essential thing is not what is affirmed, but what is made possible.

Consensual measures... but not very binding

"Zero Net Artificialization": A real commitment... but with what means?

The commitment to "Zero Net Artificialization" (ZAN) echoes a goal already enshrined in law, which local authorities will be forced to comply with anyway. The pact cites two specific developments — Malbosc and Cité Bergère — as symbols to be preserved.

In the case of Montpellier, projects like Malbosc or Cité Bergère show the limits of this type of commitment when it is not accompanied by precise legal tools. For example, evoking the will to "save Cité Bergère" without mentioning heritage listing, pre-emption rights, modification of the Local Urban Plan (PLU), or cancellation of building permits falls more into the realm of intention than political action.

A credible commitment to ZAN would imply, on the contrary:

• Clear identification of abandoned or redirected projects,
• Immediate decisions on land protection,
• And an assumed renaturation strategy from the municipal mandate onwards, without waiting for 2050.

However, without a clear legal lever, such a promise protects nothing against land logic and projects already underway. Truly assuming ZAN locally implies not only naming sites to be preserved but above all stating how they are protected and against which interests.

As it stands, the commitment is more of a political signal than a binding urban planning strategy.

Neighborhood Parliaments: Democracy or Consultation?

The creation of "neighborhood parliaments elected by inhabitants" is appealing, but nothing indicates:

• Whether they will have decision-making power,
• A budget,
• Or a right of veto on certain projects.

Without clarification, there is a great risk of reproducing consultation mechanisms without real power, where participation serves more to legitimize decisions already made than to build them.

Halting the CSR Incinerator Project: A Promise Without a Strategy

Stopping the plastics incinerator (SRF - Solid Recovered Fuel) project is popular. But it depends largely on metropolitan decisions and contracts. Without exposing:

• The financial consequences,
• Credible alternatives for waste treatment,
• Nor the trajectory for reduction at the source,

the promise remains political but not operational.

Health Centers: An Ambition That Implies a Strong Choice

Regarding health centers in neighborhoods, one can reasonably assume the intention is to create municipal public health centers. This is a politically strong — and pertinent — orientation, but it implies answering several major questions:

• What status for caregivers (municipal employees, health center)?
• What sustainable economic model?
• What articulation with the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and national health policies?
• How to respond to the shortage of doctors other than by posting signs?

Without these elements, the promise is more of a desirable goal than a mastered commitment. However, in matters of health, announcing without guaranteeing can feed false hopes.

Municipal Police: Means for What Purpose?

The announced increase of +100 municipal police and mediation agents poses a simple but essential question: for what purpose?

Increasing staff is not a policy in itself. It is a means, which only makes sense if it serves a clearly formulated objective:

• Prevention?
• Non-coercive proximity presence?
• Response to what types of disturbances?
• Articulation with mediation, social services, specialized prevention?

Without clarification, the announcement falls into a quantitative logic that could just as well fuel a classic security policy as a real community police force. The ambiguity here is total — and therefore problematic.

Often Symbolic Social and Ecological Measures

Municipal grocery stores, green prescriptions, free canteens, cycling network: so many proposals that go in the "right direction", but whose real impact will depend on:

• Their scale,
• Their financing,
• Their inclusion in a global strategy.

Without costing, without a calendar, without assumed arbitration, they risk remaining political showcases rather than levers of transformation.

A Rupture Mostly Semantic

This pact gives the feeling of a program that seeks to unite without dividing, to seduce without deciding. However, any policy of rupture supposes:

• Clear priorities,
• Assumed renunciations,
• Open conflicts with the existing state of affairs.

Here, the rupture is mostly in the words. The means, constraints, and structural choices remain largely out of frame.

The question is therefore not whether these measures are desirable — many are — but whether they are truly binding.