How the Refounded Neighborhoods’ Dwellers See Spatial (in)Justice

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, we 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 article 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.