The poor in the inner city: Stability and change in two Parisian neighborhoods

Gentrification causes area upgrading and population displacement, but also has wider effects. This article examines processes of planning blight and the labeling processes which create and maintain images of certain areas as being “unimprovable” by capital. A typology of poor neighborhoods in gentrifying cities is proposed with the suggestion that each type will contain populations with different and contrasted characteristics. These ideas are tested through a comparison of two neighborhoods in inner Paris. An understanding of the changing status of such districts can only be gained through a recognition of the importance of images and marketing and of the interests of capital. © 1991 by V. H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved.