The urban renewal programme is one of the most spectacular urban programmes to have been undertaken in Paris; it is certainly the one which has provoked the biggest public outcry. The renewal programme in the strict sense of the term, has two essential characteristics: 1) It concerns an already structured social space, of which it changes the form, the social content and/or function. 2) It is based on public initiative, whatever the legal or financial form of the renewal agency, where private enterprise may take over the work, as in the case of Opératioll Italie.

p. 94 - Urban renewal and social conflict in Paris, 1972