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Youth gatherings are both diverse and evolving phenomena, varying depending on their components, the spaces occupied and their constraining contexts. The urban nature of these situations therefore relates to these different elements. However, the tensions in these gatherings seem to highlight what may be described as a “confrontational hospitality” mixing socio-spatial promiscuity as well as a need for differentiation. On the one hand, they rely on a “continuous managing of potential conflict”, as a requirement of their survival. On the other hand, the sociabilities at play arise from an “a priori familiarity” which undermines the usual categorisations of urban relations. Finally, they function centrifugally, drawing in other young people. These qualities seem to turn the gathering into a “practical public space” where relations of dependency and of autonomy in social bonding are tested against the constraints of place.