ABSTRACT
The central theme of this volume focuses on segregation and exclusion in western metropolitan areas. Such a focus immediately brings to mind the 1993 Green Paper issued by the European Commission, the objective of which was to open up discussion on options for the future of European social policy (Commission of the European Communities 1993). In this document the Commission stressed the need to tackle social exclusion, where emphasis
is now on the structural nature of a process which excludes part of the population from economic and social opportunities. The problem is not only one of disparities between the top and the bottom of the social scale, but also between those who have a place in society and those who are excluded.
(Commission of the European Communities 1993: 20)