Housing and Belonging in Latin America

The intricacies of living in contemporary Latin American cities include cases of both empowerment and restriction. In Lima, residents built their own homes and formed community organizations, while in Rio de Janeiro inhabitants of the favelas needed to be "pacified" in anticipation of international sporting events. Aspirations to "get ahead in life" abound in the region, but so do multiple limitations to realizing the dream of upward mobility. This volume captures the paradoxical histories and experiences of urban life in Latin America, offering new empirical and theoretical insights to scholars

The intricacies of living in contemporary Latin American cities include cases of both empowerment and restriction. In Lima, residents built their own homes and formed community organizations, while in Rio de Janeiro inhabitants of the favelas needed to be "pacified" in anticipation of international sporting events. Aspirations to "get ahead in life" abound in the region, but so do multiple limitations to realizing the dream of upward mobility. This volume captures the paradoxical histories and experiences of urban life in Latin America, offering new empirical and theoretical insights to scholars.

Preface -- Introduction: taking up residency : spatial reconfigurations and the struggle to belong in urban Latin America / Christien Klaufus -- The Latin American context -- The consolidation of the Latin American city and the changing bases for social order / Bryan R. Roberts -- Proximity, crime, politics and design : Medellin's popular neighbourhoods and the experience of belonging / Gerard Martin and Marijke Martin -- Family and belonging in consolidated settlements -- Debe Ser esfuerzo propio : aspirations and belongings of the young generation in the old barriadas of southern Lima, Peru / Michaela Hordijk -- Housing inheritance and succession among pioneer squatters and self builders : a Mexican case study / Erika Denisse Grajeda -- "Favela modelo" : a study on housing, belonging and civic engagement in a "pacified" favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil / Palloma Menezes -- Spaces of the urban middle class -- Housing policy in the city of Buenos Aires : some reflections on the programa federal / Fernando Ostuni and Jean-Louis Van Gelder -- The boom of high-rise apartment buildings in Buenos Aires : new spaces of residentiality or a motor of disintegration? / Jan Dohnke and Corinna Holzl -- Living with style in my casa geo : large-scale housing conjuntos in urban Mexico / Cristina Inclen-Valadez -- Architectural and spatial representations -- Illiterate modernists : tracking the dissemination of architectural knowledge in Brazilian favelas / Fernando Luiz Lara -- Towards belonging : design and dwelling practices in Santa Marta, Colombia / Peter Kellett -- (re)building the city of Medellin : beyond state rhetoric vs. personal experience -- a call for consolidated synergies / Jota (Jos) Samper and Tamera Marko -- Reflections -- Home and belonging : reflections from urban Mexico / Ann Varley -- One block at a time : performing the neighbourhood / Arij Ouweneel -- List of contributors -- Index.