Urban megaprojects in Latin American metropolis: cases of study in the context of neoliberal policies
The objective of this work was to study the impact of globalization processes linked to neoliberalism In Latin American cities, assessing the changes over the past three decades in relation to the massive implementation of Large Urban Projects (LUPs) through a comparative analysis of selected cases....
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | México |
| Institución: | UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO |
| Repositorio: | Investigaciones Geográficas |
| Idioma: | español |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/60464 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.investigacionesgeograficas.unam.mx/index.php/rig/article/view/60464 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Latin America neoliberalism large urban projects globalization metropolis Latinoamérica neoliberalismo grandes proyectos urbanos globalización metrópolis |
| Sumario: | The objective of this work was to study the impact of globalization processes linked to neoliberalism In Latin American cities, assessing the changes over the past three decades in relation to the massive implementation of Large Urban Projects (LUPs) through a comparative analysis of selected cases. The working hypothesis was that the increased economic weight and “control” functions of large cities have led to their dominant roles in the new international division of labor, translated into the readaptation of their physical and social structures. These have become activity hotspots within a flexible-accumulation production model and in territories that concentrate most of the decision-making, planning, and management processes. This is also the case in Latin America, although its cities can only be considered significant within regional and “country” contexts because of their role as a link between supranational territorial interests and the national and local ones. According to these processes, new urban production modalities have proliferated over the past three decades, where different typologies predominate: closed urbanizations, high-rise towers (intended for residential use, generally luxury, hotels, corporate headquarters of large companies or offices of advanced services to companies), shopping malls, and important integral renewal operations. All of these point to real estate businesses seeking high return rates. In a context of economic financing, real estate investment — historically linked to financial investment — has found an appropriate, open, and flexible environment for its expansion, becoming one of the key forms of capital investment. Our methodological perspective included the selection of quantitative indicators from multilateral agencies (UN, UN-Habitat, ECLAC) and statistics offices at country level and in cities that show a significant magnitude of the process, in addition to selected cases. The cities targeted by indicators and case studies (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogota, and Santiago) stand out by their population size and for being the main urban centers of large regional economies. They have also been selected based on the weight of their GDP both in the Latin American context and within their countries. The study cases (14 in total) were selected for the following reasons: i) all have involved huge investments, thus being widely broadcasted on mass media; ii) all display a broad representation of the main varieties of GPUs, namely, private real estate for mixed uses — generally targeting sectors of high purchasing power —, urban reconfiguration and remodeling, leveraging on mega-projects and transportation infrastructure, particularly related to airports; iii) all cases are relevant within their respective urban context; their implementation has had significant impacts on urban functioning and dynamics. The key discussion points and conclusions from the case studies analyzed here focus, first of all, on the interpretation of international capital participation and its partnership with local elites. The latter have taken on a new role, playing certain global functions to regulate the relationships between the local and global levels. This has favored the expansion of transnational capital in the different functional sectors of urban economies. Secondly, the analysis underlines the marginal contribution of the implementation of GPUs to social equity. Many GPUs have magnified territorial fragmentation and segregation derived from the revaluation of local land, translated into higher land prices, which may have involved the resettlement of local residents. Some GPUs have a great potential to produce or boost centralization at different scales (macro-regional, state, regional, local). The examples also point to the fact that GPUs should be understood, within the capitalist logic, as “spatial fix” solutions in the double sense of Harvey (2001), i.e., physical solution and as a way out of cyclical crises. Finally, and following the same logic, a large part of these actions should be considered as city-marketing initiatives. |
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