| Summary: | « There was nothing ». The fact that this expression appears regularly in speeches from two different kinds of urban renewal projects reveals how the presence of some social groups is being erased by contemporary urban planning. We used the qualitative data from our case studies – a recently built housing development project in Lyon and several shared gardens in Paris - to demonstrate how the presence of lower classes is at the same time erased and stigmatized when it is replaced by more socially privileged groups. The comparative analysis showcases the challenges. On the one hand, the groups of higher classes perform this process in order to balance their lack of history in the neighborhood which is the only legitimate barrier to their installation therein. On the other hand, the stigmatization element focuses the attention on individual behaviours and minimizes the fact that competitions for space between social groups are collective political fights. Such two aspects intertwine allowing us to outline the social roles of the producers, as well as the relationships of domination brought forth by the urban planning game.
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