The paper, which has recently been published in the CITY, examines the local poverty governance tactics and practices that aim to maintain social and spatial order through the selective displacement of Roma. These practices reflect continuity from socialist era practices. EU-funded urban rehabilitation projects, while ostensibly targeting social integration, have been used by the local government to promote the mobility of ‘deserving’ vulnerable groups and control ‘undeserving’ marginalised Roma through enclosure. The paper elucidates the role of street-level bureaucrats in the construction of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ social categories.
The study ‘Maintaining spatial and social order: the role of housing development in governing urban margins’ is accessible online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13604813.2024.2352679