The outline which follows must be considered as the summary of eight years of empirical and theoretical research on the relationships between economic base and state super‐structure in the urban field. These have been personal projects exemplified notably by three theoretical studies (Lojkine, 1969; 1972; 1975) and three regional monographs (Lojkine, 1973; 1974; 1976). But it is also for us a reflection upon the whole of marxist research as it has developed in France since the early 1970s in the realm of urban planning and policies. We hope that it may contribute to a better use of dialectical materialism in our concrete research as well.