Abstract

GAGO GARCIA, Cándida  and  MARTINEZ SIERRA, Ubeimar José. Urban megaprojects in Latin American metropolis: cases of study in the context of neoliberal policies. Invest. Geog [online]. 2021, n.106, e60464.  Epub June 06, 2022. ISSN 2448-7279.  https://doi.org/10.14350/rig.60464.

The objective of the work to study the impact of globalization processes, linked to the postulates of neoliberalism, in the Latin American metropolises, assessing the changes produced in the last three decades in relation to the massive implementation of Large Urban Projects (GPU) through the study of a comparative selection of cases.

As a hypothesis, it is pointed out that with the increase in their economic weight and the functions of “control”, cities have acquired preponderant roles in the new international division of labor, which is translated into a readaptation of their physical and social structures. These become centers of activity, within a productive model of flexible accumulation, and in the territories where a large part of the decision, planning and management processes are concentrated. This is also the case in Latin America, although the role of its metropolises can only be considered significant in the regional and “country” context, due to their role as a nexus between supranational territorial interests and national and local ones.

In accordance with these processes, over the last three decades new forms of production of urban territory have proliferated where different typologies predominate: gated communities, high-rise towers (intended for residential use, generally luxury, hotels, corporate headquarters of large companies or advanced business services offices), shopping centers and major comprehensive renovation operations. All this points to real estate businesses in search of profitability with a high rate of return. Thus, in a context of financialization of the economy, real estate investment, historically linked to financial investment, has found an appropriate environment for its open and flexible reproduction, becoming one of the fundamental forms of capital investment.

From a methodological point of view, it has been chosen to select quantitative indicators, coming from multilateral organizations (UN, UN-Habitat, ECLAC) and from national statistical offices and cities that approximate the magnitude of the process, to which join a selection of cases. The cities to which the indicators and the case studies refer (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá and Santiago), are distinguished by their demographic size and by being the main urban centers of the large regional economies. They have also been selected for the weight of their GDP in the Latin American context and in their countries.

Regarding the survey of cases (14 in total), these have been selected for study for the following reasons: i) all have involved huge amounts of investment, thus receiving abundant repercussions in the mass media; ii) a representation of the main varieties of GPUs has been collected, namely, private real estate developments destined for mixed uses -generally destined for high purchasing power demands-, reconfiguration and remodeling of cities taking advantage of the holding of mega-events and performances in transportation infrastructure, with special interest in airports; iii) all the cases are relevant in the urban context in which they are registered and their implementation has had significant consequences on urban functioning and dynamics.

The main lines of discussion and the conclusions that result from the case studies presented focus, first of all, on the interpretation of the participation of international capital and its alliance with local elites. The latter have acquired a new role, performing certain global functions to articulate the relationships between the local and the global. This fact has favored the expansion of transnational capital in the different functional fractions of urban economies. Second, the analysis highlights the limited contribution that the implementation of GPUs makes to social equity, since with many of them territorial fragmentation and segregation have intensified, as the environment revitalized and caused an increase in the price of the GPU. land, which may have involved the expulsion of traditional residents. Some GPUs have a great capacity in the generation or reinforcement of centralities at the different scalar levels (macro-regional, state, regional, local). The examples also suggest that GPUs must be understood, within capitalist logic, as spatial solutions “spatial fix” in the double sense that Harvey (2001) has given them, a physical solution and as a way out of cyclical crises. Finally, and within the same logic, a large part of the actions should be considered citymarketing initiatives.

Keywords : Latin America; Neoliberalism; Urban megaprojects; Globalization; Metropolis.

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