The subject of this book is social segregation in Athens, that is, the distribution of various social groups in the city space. Athens does not have towers for the rich or slums for the poor. As the capital of a rather poor state, whose economy was mainly agricultural until the 1960s, the built environment of the city does not display signs of great private or public wealth and international power. Signs of poverty have also gradually faded as a result of rapid post-war economic development and the effective role of family solidarity in the provision of welfare. This does not mean that class inequality is absent or that vulnerable groups of immigrants and minorities do not face discrimination. It means that structures, such as the social physiognomy of urban land ownership, mechanisms, such as dominant housing systems and access to housing, and practices, such as family solidarity in meeting the housing needs of vulnerable family members, have hindered the translation of social inequality into spatial division.