Abstract
While the riverbanks located in the centres of French cities have often been redeveloped thanks to large high visibility projects, this article focuses on secondary riverbanks (Les Îles Noires in Tours-La Riche and the banks of the Basse in Perpignan), that are less conspicuous and visible, and appear as true urban margins. These two secondary riverbanks allow us to ask the question of the qualification of the urban margins, as well as that of their requalification. The urban margin is defined in these cases by spatial, functional and social characteristics as well as by the negative representations it conveys. These degraded and disqualified riverbanks are nevertheless rich in potential assets that the public authorities wish to highlight in order to change and improve the image and the uses of the places. The development of urban parks should provide solutions to the problems identified in these sites, but it is also an opportunity for public authorities to erase these margins by fully reintegrating them into the city, thus leading to normalized space.