ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to contribute to analyse the role of public policies in gentrification with the case of Paris. Revanchist urban policies are fully part of class struggle dynamics on different scales. The urban public policies they led in Paris were very different from revanchist New York under Rudy Giuliani. In Paris, 'social mix' is the keyword, based on strong public policy to re-launch social housing production. In Paris, gentrification appears as a process occurring late in comparison to London or New York. In 2001, the municipal elections brought Socialist majority to power in Paris council for the first time. With the abandoning of demolition and reconstruction in 1996 by Right in Paris, production of social housing collapsed. The re-launching of production of social housing in Paris by Left has been particularly highlighted in Council communication. The chapter considers, like Neil Smith, that gentrification is a form of class struggle in the urban space that leads to working-class eviction.
