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As theories about the making of the city often overlook the role of emotions, this article explores the relationship between the moral emotions provoked by situations of residential vulnerability and the urban policies that target or trigger these situations. The case of the rehousing of the occupants of a large, degraded condominium in Marseille (France) shows how these emotions can permeate local policies administered by urban margins and alter the negotiations relative to their temporality. Meanwhile, the analysis underlines the tension between moral judgments these emotions express and the institutional interests at stake, and highlights the shifting, unstable nature of the resulting balance.