Both the great cities studied in this book are renowned for their imposing streets and buildings, their cultural and political vitality and their cosmopolitan lifestyles, but just outside their centres are neighbourhoods where ordinairy people have their homes, often living in poverty and sometimes in squalor. Two such neighbourhoods were Stockwell in London and Folie-Mericourt in Paris, and are the tale of this 'tale of two cities' told by social researchers.

The local studies are set in their broader metropolitan and national contexts, including an examination of changes over time in income patterns in France and Britain and in housing policies in the metropolitan regions. This illuminates the effects of different social policies adopted by Britain and France, Paris and London, to help poor and disadvantaged families.

This book was first published in 1981.