Abstract: This essay focuses on one aspect of the relationship between law and space: the idea that cities be governed by the rule of law. The core value of the rule of law, it is suggested, is the need to restrain the exercise of arbitrary power-to protect the weak from the strong. Two different kinds of neighborhoods are analyzed to expose the current difficulties in establishing the rule of law in this sense: neighborhoods dominated by informal housing, and neighborhoods dominated by economic development aimed at the goal of becoming a global city. To address the current difficulties facing the establishment of the rule of law in these neighborhoods, the essay proposes institutional reforms designed to enable a reinvigorated local democracy that strengthens the current legal system.