14

This article compares the appropriation of urban space by street children in Yaounde (Cameroon) and Antananarivo (Madagascar). These children live permanently in public spaces, particularly in city centres, which already puts them at odds with the rest of society. However, both sporadic actions and longer-term policies run by central or municipal authorities have pushed the street children out to the urban fringes. A spatial margin now coincides with a social one. This relegation effect is approached here in its spatial dimension, from the inside to the outside of the city.