This thesis deals with the governability of the process of urban projects developments located in metropolitan areas. The author shows how the exercise of "maîtrise d'ouvrage urbaine" of theses projects is about creating the conditions of developments and managing a complex process. Through the analysis of the urban programmation, the author shows that the MOU makes the development of the projects possible trough activities and functions like coordinating several activities and actors. As the actors are independent or linked by a hierarchy, and according to the type of structuration of local authorities and to the externalisation of sorne activities, sorne risks of extra-territoriality may appear. The author proposes an analysis of the MOU by the transaction costs. The author shows that the urban theories of anglo-saxon urban governments are not valid to analyse these french "maitrise d'ouvrage urbaine".