Contenu du sommaire

Food Marketplaces in 18th Century Tours A study of the geographic distribution of food shops in Tours shows that Ancien Régime cities were actually open-air markets, despite regulatory attempts in the 18th century. While the location of food shops followed several rationales, an observer is immediately struck by their polarisation. More than any other sector, food shops created centrality in a town. Control over marketplaces was an issue for sanitation, the economy, or even for identity for many urban actors : shopkeepers, customers, and city authorities. These actors had different conflicting views that converged to help change the urban landscape.

Residence as Belonging : The Spatial and Legal Categories of Social Inclusiveness in Italian Cities under the Ancien Régime Based on sources covering Milan and Piacenza and on literature from other case studies, this article aims to explore the rationales of social inclusiveness in Italian urban areas under the Ancien Régime, via a cross perspective focused on the category of residence and its material and legal contents. The objective is to endeavour to understand how these numerous contents underlie the various degrees of belonging in urban communities, from the lowest level of inclusiveness linked to subletting temporary housing, to the summit of full political citizenship, most often associated with full or ‘‘quasi'' ownership of housing.

The Old Quarters of Marseille in the 19th Century : Birth of the Slums Between the 1860s and 1890s, the old quarters of Marseille, islets of the Medieval centre that were left untouched during the major urban development projects, became the slums of the city, described first as a picturesque cour des miracles (‘‘court of miracles''), then as a fearful lair for an army of criminals. This article examines this imagery, in order to trace back to the roots of the image of Marseille criminality that still bears weight today, and to explain the rationales behind these representations grasped as part of local and national trends. The motif of the cour des miracles reflects the contradictory feelings of the local elite under the sway of romanticism, in the wake of major urban renovation works. The army of criminals, however, fits into a more democratic imagery of crime, which reveals stronger cohesion of the Marseille public space and the French national public space, adhering to the Republican project that uses the war on crime as a tool for social integration and political action.

Open Arcades : the Forgotten Modernity of the Capital of Paris An aesthetic reading of Walter Benjamin's work and of the substantial quantity of literature dedicated to the ‘‘boulevard culture'' has made the ‘‘galleries'' and ‘‘covered arcades'', developed in the first half of the 19th century in bourgeois Paris districts, into icons of a new Parisian modernity. By directly taking on representations of a very small minority of elites of the time, such readings have helped erase the city's other realities. ‘‘Open arcades'' were even more numerous, and multiplied in working-class districts over the same period, testifying to an equally vibrant and active modernity that has since been totally forgotten. Through an in-depth analysis of the demographic, economic, and social trends that preceded and coincided with the opening of one of these arcades, we can exhume the characteristic features of this ‘‘other modernity'' : a substantial transformation of the local space via densification and transformation of old buildings, renewed forms of production and commercialisation, and a development of urban perspectives and practices that were entirely new.

The Birth of a Workers' Housing Project under the Second Empire Near the Chopinette Barrier, which was still inhabited by agents of the Octroi (the Paris city toll barriers), Parisian notary Adolphe de Madre (1813-1894) purchased a building using his own capital in 1852. This investment became collateral for an initial loan from Crédit Foncier, with other loans following thereafter as land plots were purchased and turned into lots (mainly for vegetable gardens) and housing for workers. Thus, Madre purchased 34,000 square metres of land from various owners, near Hôpital Saint-Louis. He let his lands to small entrepreneurs on 18- year leases. These entrepreneurs in turn built houses for themselves and for subletting, and the houses reverted to Madre at the end of the leases. Between 1861 and 1863, Madre had his own buildings built. The entrepreneurs and tenants were mainly from the working classes and the provinces. Madre, a staunch believer in social Catholic values, channelled his desire to become an entrepreneur into a charitable strategy of building housing for deserving workers. An efficient businessman, a strict manager, and a skilful legal expert, Madre developed his project with no governmental aid. He is one of the few to have earned money in a charitable endeavour. Unlike the Cité Napoléon, Madre's buildings do not stand out from surrounding buildings, and some of them, transformed for different uses over time, have not been demolished. A recent rehabilitation project has extended their existence.