1. The spatial dimension
of urban marginality
The french case
Luca Daconto - l.daconto@campus.unimib.it
Ph.D student in Urban and Local European Studies
University of Milan - Bicocca

2. Table of contents
Urban marginality as product of
metropolization-globalization processes;
Area effects in deprived neighbourhoods:
hypothesis VS evidences;
The spatialisation of social problems: some
effects in french cities;
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3. Urban marginality
as product of metropolization and
globalization processes
Transition to post-fordist society:
internationalization, financialization, knowledge and service
economy, ICT, recoiling of welfare state;
New paradigm: inclusion / exclusion;
→ Polarization of society, which is increasingly more
segregated;
Dual society manifests itself in a dual city.
At the most, «three-speed city»: gentrification, periurbanization,
relegation;
Overlap between social and spatial exclusion;
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4. The ideal-type of poor neighbourhood
and its inhabitants ?
Territory: The spatial confinement
- lack of opportunities (goods, service, of vulnerable populations,
relations)
due to
- marginal position in the metropolitan
system (low accessibility) macrosocial processes,
- slum housing produces
negative area effects
Σ that exacerbate
Inhabitants:
their social exclusion.
- poor, unemployement, one-parent
family, large family, immigrants, elderly Consequently,
people → lack of capitals stigmatization of
- low mobility (physical, residential, territory and residents
social)
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5. Area effects in deprived neighbourhoods:
hypothesis . . .
« the area effects or neighbourhood effects are the
independent, separable effects on life chances that arise
from living in a particular neighbourhood » (Atkinson &
Kintrea 2004, p. 438)
Most of research has studied poor neighbourhoods
Localization effects:
effects
low accessibility; lack of opportunities; spatial mismatch;
Social relationship effects:
effects
1. strong ties ; bonding social capital;
2. negative socialisation, lack of various role models,
culture of «ghetto»;
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6. . . . and evidences
Research on physical (1) and residential (2) mobility in french poor
neighbourhoods;
(1) Main findings: low mobility, local dependence
- The local context is a source of resources, a hub of social networks,
based on strong ties, which form an «autochthony capital».
This «autochthony capital» enables to plug a gap in other capitals and to
reach other opportunities: ex. informal car sharing
(2) Main findings: high mobility, high turn-over, signs of ethnic
discrimination
- Confinement? No, high mobility
- Negative effects on life chances? No, upward trajectories
- Segregation due to macrosocial processes? Yes, but also strategies of
avoidance by social groups
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7. Area effects in poor neighbourhoods
« the area (in which individuals reside) [...] is a «milieu», [...] a productive entity, with
properties that have specific effects on the «course of human actions» [... ]
But, [...], if the milieu-neighborhood has specific effects, that is to say [...] «effects
that can't be derived by the social structure» these effects «are not autonomous , that is
to say, [they] can be understood only from the social structure.» [...]
The effects of social characteristics of milieu-neighborhoods don't operate
independently from social properties of individuals and their history.»
(Authier, 2007, pp. 209-211, my translation)
« the conclusions tend to support a middle-range position within the area effects
debate that is, that both structure and agency are important in influencing
neighbourhood problems »
(Atkinson & Kintrea, 2001, p. 2295)
« area effects […] could be positive and negative […] Many residents in the deprived
areas are content with the familiarity and support found in their locality and it would
be unwise to suggest that their social relations are impaired or deficient »
(Atkinson & Kintrea, 2004, p. 452)
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8. The «spatialisation» of social problems:
the french politique de la ville
Spatial concentration of social problems → Spatial concentration is the explanatory
factor of social problems → effects = cause
Policy against exclusion led by the State in partnership with local communities
(governance) in favor of urban areas where social deprivation is high
Wide range of interventions: urban planning, economic development, social action,
education, safety, etc.
- Solidarity and urban renewal law 2000 → mixité sociale
- Borloo law 2003 → ANRU (National Agency for Urban Renovation)
→ demolition (of social housing) / reconstruction (of middle-class housing);
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9. Demolition and re-housing effects
Source: http://www.laa-courneuve.net/
50% rehousing within 1 km; 73% within 5 km → mobility of proximity
(wish to stay «chez eux» ; estate of social housing providers)
Re-housing in very close spatially and/or socially areas → NO, upward
residential mobility
Destabilization of the resources associated with the inclusion into social
networks rooted in the neighbourhood (for both, who leave and who
remain)
Mixité sociale VS Right to housing
Is spatialisation of social problems effective to struggle urban marginality?
02.05.12 Yes, Luca Daconto - The spatialNo, forofpeople
for territory / dimension urban marginality 9

10. Conclusions
Urban marginality theory:
-Micro-level (individual capitals / social networks)
-Meso-level (place resources, image-history-culture of
territory)
-Macro-level (competitiveness, cohesion, state/communal
processes of distribution and allocation)
Social exclusion = spatial concentration of marginalized
people
No, spatialisation of social problems
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11. References
Actes du colloque « Des ‘effets de quartier’ à la politique de la ville - Perspectives internationales », Centre
d’analyse stratégique, 24 novembre 2011
Atkinson R., Kintrea K., Disentangling Area Effects: Evidence from Deprived and Non-deprived
Neighbourhoods, Urban Studies, Vol. 38, No. 12, 2277–2298, 2001
Atkinson R., Kintrea K., ‘Opportunities and Despair, It’s All in There’: Practitioner Experiences and
Explanations of Area Effects and Life Chances, Sociology 2004 38: 437
Authier, Bacqué, Guérin-Pace, a cura di (2006), Le quartier. Enjeux scientifiques, action politique et pratiques
sociales, Paris : La Découverte, pp. 206-216.
Authier J-Y., Grafmeyer Y., Mallon I., Vogel M. (2010), Sociologie de Lyon, La Découverte, Paris
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Castel R. (1995), Les métamorphes de la question sociale. Une chronique du salariat, Fayard, Paris
Castells M., Globalisation, Networking, Urbanisation: Reflections on the Spatial Dynamics of the Information
Age, Urban Studies, 2010, 47:2737
Dangschat J., Space Matters ― Marginalization and Its Places, International Journal of Urban and Regional
Research. Volume 33.3 September 2009 835–40
Donzelot, J. (2009), La ville à trois vitesse, éditions de la Villette, Paris
Fol S. (2009). La mobilité des pauvres. Paris: Belin
Gilbert P., « Ghetto », « relégation », « effets de quartier ». Critique d’une représentation des cités. »,
Métropolitiques, 9 février 2011. URL : http://www.metropolitiques.eu/Ghetto-relegation-effets-de.html
Lelévrier C. (2010), La mixité dans la rénovation urbaine : dispersion ou re-concentration ?. Espaces et sociétés
140- 141 pp. 59-74
Lévy-Vroelant C., Urban Renewal in France, Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences; Jun2007,
Vol. 20 Issue 2, p109-118, 10p
Sassen S. (2010), Cities in a World Economy, Sage
Wacquant L., Urban Outcasts. A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality, Polity Press, 2008
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