ABSTRACT: The paper claims that a more comprehensive outlook is necessary for a city that would accord participation a central role and introduces into the discussion the concept of the right to the city. In the light of experience gained from the work on the ground, we inquire into how the concept of the right to the city can be filled with substance and how it can be used as an instrument rather than making it an end in itself. The paper highlights the importance, in work to be carried out in cities, of not neglecting the relationship between the city and the accumulation of capital and of carrying out struggles for an alternative to the present order rather than simply for preserving what already exists.