Traditionally, the strategy of urban revolt had one major problem: it was all too easy for the army to surround the city and cut off its supply lines.
Following Haussmann’s 1854 renovation of Paris, which was designed in part to widen the streets such that barricades were more difficult to build, another problem developed for this strategy: namely, the rise in property speculation and property values. This led to the exodus of the industrial workers and the poor–the social base of the urban revolt–from the city center into the surrounding areas. This can be seen as parallel to the modern process of gentrification, making the city safe for capital.
However, as Walter Benjamin notes in his 12-page pitch of the Arcades Project to Adorno, this led to the creation of the red belt encircling Paris. If the red belt revolts, it could very well encircle capital in Paris, cutting off its supply lines. What was once capital’s strategy for containing and destroying urban revolt might now be used against it.
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