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This paper discusses the main questions addressed at a colloquium on higher education, research, and local authorities held at CRESC (University of Paris 13) on December 6, 2011. This paper focuses on the way urban studies approached the process of “territorializing” universities since 1980. In the 1960s and 1970s and then in the 1990s, universities experienced unprecedented growth, which must be viewed through the lens of urban studies. This issue pertains to the development of urban centers and outlying areas, as well as to the political relationships with local authorities. Recent institutional changes (policy of the PRES and development of ties with local authorities) have made universities partners in and producers of urban development.