This paper considers urban studies as a field of composite research based on academic and action knowledge. Il proposes to trace the contribution of monographs of cities and neighborhoods, wrote from the beginning of urban studies, to the questions of professionals. It brings together the history of notions, describing micro-scales such as “neighbourhood” and “street”, as well as the notion of “public space”. It examines theoretical tools describing the socio-economic processes of urban production. In this context, he questions the role of the French language. It is hypothesised that this lexicon is not isolated from any other outside linguistic influences. But it encourages urban studies to relatively homogeneous types of narratives and arguments that can be correlated with the evolution of representations of working-class neighborhoods(I) and organized common space (II), which has implications for contemporary urban projects (III). This paper presents a reasoned review of the French literature of the second half of the twentieth century and identifies the ramifications, currents of thought and fundamental writings. This intellectual history of ideas leads to an attempt to make a historiography of each notion in the light of the societal and urbanistic concerns of the moment.