Territory is a useful concept in hazard studies. Not only does it enable us to focus on the physical aspects of hazard, but also on its social and political aspects. If we look at French state risk policy since 1995, we can observe that specific hazard areas were created, but without taking into account the economical, social and environmental issues of floodplains. This explains why local stakeholders are little involved in flood management and do not take part into the flood risk planning processes. However, the Val-de-Marne case puts into relief the fact that planning projects can go along with the development needs of the communes while taking into account flood hazards. The main issue is to think about a relevant flood hazard management and governance, involving all the aspects of risks, that is, the physical characteristics of flood, the population’s perception of the river’s landscape, the development projects of the local stakeholders, the different local political issues… The keyword is scale : how can we link together the national aims at reducing people’s vulnerability to flood risk, wherever one lives in France, and the local wish to increase the attractiveness of the territory for the inhabitants ? Our main purpose is to discuss the different modes of regulation and to define a global risk management which integrates the interests of all the stakeholders who act at various scales.