The analysis of street phenomena in the Parisian district of Belleville shows how artistic engagement and the use and occupation of land through urban gardening create commonality. A common heritage in terms of working class history is discursively mobilised in order to argue in favour of a conservation of the district's architecture. The anarchistic urban gardening movement which emerged later on has also led to a successful change in local politics so that the inhabitants were able to keep their shared piece of land. Hereby, the local social movement successfully managed to preserve the architecture of 19th century workers' homes, as well as to transform private into public space. This political victory, enhanced by artist's performances, can be interpreted as a response to global political issues (class; ecology) on a local scene. The present study contributes to the development of anthropology of the street by long-term ethnographic research that was particularly based on the observation of (semi-)public events. Events that were announced and/or took place on the street were used as entry points to the fields and as a main focus of the analysis. This approach gives constructive answers to the critiques of methodological nationalism and provides an innovative example for the location of migration.
To a lesser extent, the phenomenon of commonality can also be observed in Tokyo, where resistance against privatization of public space is practiced through the arts and through urban gardening. The common point of both cases is the way thresholds as liminal spaces are appropriated and occupied by the residents.