Logics of territorial (dis)organization - new strategies?

Abstract

Contemporary Brazilian cities are growing at an uneven and disjointed pace, jeopardizing the future of policies and actions that may depend on the existence of territories not compromised by disorderly land grabbing processes, particularly in the case of housing and public facilities. It can be said that one of the catalysts in the city’s expansion is housing. In the absence of effective policies, the solution to housing was through spontaneous occupations, without any planning and control of the government. Currently, large housing projects are being implemented, located in places far from the urban area, under the consent of the municipal agencies that should ensure the regular and sustainable occupation of the land. One notices a change in the logic of territorial organization, in which the space now occupied is purposely located at great distances from the urban spot, chosen by entrepreneurs with no commitment but profit, and under the aegis of the public power. On the other hand, spontaneous occupations of areas and land considered improper to use are multiplied, and for that reason undervalued, but close to urbanized centralities, which are conducive to the location of low-income social groups in search of housing and work. Thus, one may question whether there are really new organizational logics or if what happens is a repetition of a process in which strategies of speculation are prioritized in occupying space over the quality of life of the inhabitants and their rights to the city.