Refounded Neighbourhoods and Spatial Justice: The Inhabitants' Attitudes Towards Urban Segregation

Drawing from 55 in-depth interviews with residents of the new-build neighborhoods of Courbevoie and Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine) carried out in 2004-2008, Bruno Cousin analyze their sense of spatial justice, as well as the arrangements and compromises they display when their residential choices and their attitude towards local integration are challenged. By focusing on a segment of the upper-middle class that chose to live in new, remarkably socially homogeneous neighborhoods this chapter offers an unprecedented insight into the justifications, attempted justifications, and refusals to justify themselves of a population playing an active role in the upkeep and increase of urban segregation. It also shows that the distinction between classical liberalism and neoliberalism is crucial when analyzing precisely the subjective meaning-making and the sense of justice of the denizens of contemporary cities