This paper, based on 14 case studies of schools situated in six local urban spaces (within the urban agglomerations of Budapest, Charleroi, Lille, Lisbon, London and the Creteil/Paris region), will analyse the internal logics of action of these schools and show that they are conditioned by the interaction between internal (school narrative identity, principal strategy, school intake and micropolitics) and external factors (position of the school in the local space of competitive interdependence and policy interventions). First, we will show that there are some convergences across the six local areas in the schools' logics of action. Second, we will focus on various conditions which could affect these schools' logics of action. We will demonstrate that key conditions are the "school mix", related to the position of the school in the local area, and the internal dynamic equilibrium. We will also concentrate on the particular role of the principal. In conclusion, the effects of these results on inequalities will be stressed. (Contains 3 tables and 3 notes.)