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Recent waterfront redevelopment projects in Lyon along the Rhône and Saône rivers are often seen as representing a break with the past, particularly compared with engineering works carried out of the 19th and 2th centuries. However, an analysis of policies put in place since the 198s suggests that this is not necessarily the case. Perception of such change is less radical than might be imagined initially.From this point of view, the restructuring of waterfronts at Lyon should be seen more as a progressive approach, building on earlier experiences, rather than as a break with the past. New ideas are developed out of knowledge a allready acquired, which is itself modified in the process ; the issues at stake have evolved and been transformed. In this way, the forms of redevelopment have changed only slowly and partialy. From a normative point of view, waterfront regeneration relates more to a policy of "compromise" than to a truly new local policy : modification of existing urban development strategies and adaptation to different social and economic interests, with a reluctance to resolveexplicitly conflicts of interests. Above all, the complexity of a project becomes excedent especialy where the aim of regeneration is not limited just to the waterfront but concerns the city as a whole. From a symbolic point of view, waterfront regeneration induces various forms of rethoric, providing a pretext for the creation of a new urban identity and a new territorial awareness.