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Revisiting Urban Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean Revisiting Urban Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean Clara Irazábal Regional study prepared for Revisiting Urban Planning: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 Available from http://www.unhabitat.org/grhs/2009 Prof. Clara Irazabal is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York City. Comments may be sent to the author by e-mail: [email protected]. Disclaimer: This case study is published as submitted by the consultant, and it has not been edited by the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. The analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme or its Member States. Acknowledgements The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following individuals to the chapters of this report: Chin-Yee Wong, Alexene Farol and Josie Noah (Chapter 1); Chin-Yee Wong, Julie Ann, Andy Park, Alaina Jackso and Alexene Farol (Chapter 2); Ana De Santiago Ayon, Sarah Molina and Clement Lau (Chapter 3); Joshua Shake, Andrew Erlichman and Mildred Martinez-Lopez (Chapter 4); Josie Noah, Emanuel Alvarez, Tricia Robbins and Ashley Schweickart (Chapter 5); Eric Metz (Chapter 6); Stephanie Kotin, Anne Fritzler, Stephanie Interiano and Joel Ulloa (Chapter 7); Eric Metz, Araba Sey, Jeff Jacobberger and Justin Martin (Chapter 8); Stephanie Kotin (Chapter 9); Miguel Kanai, Verónica Reyes and Mildred Martínez-López (Chapter 10). About this report General Assembly Resolution 34/114 mandated UN-HABITAT to prepare periodically the Global Report on Human Settlements as a vehicle for monitoring and reporting on human settlements conditions and trends. So far, six issues of the Global Report have been published. The seventh issue of the Global Report on Human Settlements will be devoted to ‘Revisiting Urban Planning’. The report will be published in October 2009. It will review urban planning practices and approaches, with a view to identifying the constraints and conflict points therein, as well as to identify innovative, flexible and dynamic approaches that are more responsive to the rapid pace of urbanization and its accompanying challenges. New approaches to planning can only be meaningful, and have a greater chance of succeeding if they are in consonance with the prevailing socioeconomic and cultural milieu, are participatory and inclusive, as well as linked to contextual political processes. The objective of the 2009 Global Report is to improve knowledge, among Governments and Habitat Agenda Partners, on global conditions and trends with respect to urban planning. This regional study is one of eight regional studies that will serve as inputs into the various chapters of the 2009 GRHS. Contents Introduction .....................................................................................................................................7 1. Urban Challenges and the Need to Revisit Urban Planning ...................................................7 1.1. Recent Challenges of Urbanization..............................................................................................7 1.2. Urban Population Growth and the Rise of Urban Primacy ..........................................................8 1.3. Globalization and the Multifaceted Nature of Urban Forms......................................................10 1.4. Social and Environmental Challenges........................................................................................16 1.5. Urban Planning Revisited...........................................................................................................22 2. Diversity of the Urban Context ................................................................................................26 2.1. Current Trends of Urbanization .................................................................................................26 2.2. Types of Growth ........................................................................................................................27 2.3. Socio-Spatial Inequality and Polarization ..................................................................................30 2.4. Geographic Differences..............................................................................................................35 2.5. Economic Climate and Urban Forms .........................................................................................36 2.6. Conclusions................................................................................................................................37 3. The Emergence and Spread of Contemporary Urban Planning...........................................39 3.1. Historical Roots of Urban Planning ...........................................................................................39 3.2. Major Shifts in Planning over the last Century ..........................................................................44 3.3. From Import Substitution to Export-Oriented Industrialization.................................................45 3.4. Modernization Theory and “Growth Pole” Planning Model from Import Substitution to Export- Oriented Industrialization .......................................................................................................46 3.5. The Impact of International Financing.......................................................................................49 3.6. Organic and other ‘Non-Planning’ Processes ............................................................................49 3.7. Contemporary Forms of Urban Planning ...................................................................................50 3.8. National Development Planning and Urban Planning ...............................................................55 3.9. The Influence of International Agendas in Planning..................................................................57 3.10. Concluding Thoughts ...............................................................................................................58 4. The Institutional and Regulatory Framework for Planning .................................................60 4.1. Institutional framework for shaping plan formulation and implementation ..............................60 4.2. The impact of Governance on plan formulation and implementation........................................68 4.3. The impact of neoliberal regimes on planning...........................................................................69 4.4. Institutional arrangements between different levels of government and the role of decentralization.......................................................................................................................70 4.5. Approaches through which planning can be integrated into government work.........................71 4.6. How should plan formulation and plan implementation processes relate to each other in government?............................................................................................................................72 4.7. Institutional arrangements and regulatory frameworks can be put in place for effective plan formulation and implementation.............................................................................................72 4.8. What role can other actors—civil society and private sector—play in the effective formulation and implementation of plans? .................................................................................................74 5. Planning, Participation and Politics ........................................................................................76 5.1. Participatory planning: Strengths and Risks ..............................................................................76 5.2. Successful cases of participatory planning and factors that facilitate participatory processes ..83 5.3. Lessons from participatory planning efforts in LAC countries..................................................85 5.4. The Significance of Street Politics as a Participatory Strategy ..................................................87 5.5. The question of planning ethics .................................................................................................89 5.6. Conclusion..................................................................................................................................90 6. Planning and Sustainable Urban Development: Linking the Green and Brown Agendas 91 6.1. Sprawl and gated communities and their impact on sustainability ............................................91 6.2. Mobility......................................................................................................................................92 GRHS 2009: Regional report Irazábal iii Latin America and the Caribbean 6.3. Natural Resource Protection.......................................................................................................93 6.4. Waste Management....................................................................................................................95
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