In the traditional rural countries, it was possible to distinguish areas that were homogeneous by their physical and human features: the regional perspective played an essential role, since it facilitated knowledge and insured a good administration. With the development of modern economy, great cities began to focalize the relations of the surroundings areas: regional analysis was from then on centred on the polarized region. The interest of geographers changes in the 70s: from now on, the territorial approach is centred on the way people perceive and live space; attention focuses on places and territories that have a meaning for human beings. The significant territorial units have more varied scales. The space where people evolve is often structured in archipelagos. Modernization and globalization have weakened vernacular cultures and the territorial units that had a sense for people. They are responsible for a loss of cultural identities and territorial commitment, followed by the building of new identities and new forms of territorialities: it is one of the major themes of today regional research.