Durable inequality and the scope for pro-poor development in a globalising world

Abstract

Cities are today undergoing major economic and spatial transformations in line with the requirements of global capital and neoliberalism. The main question to address in this scenario is: what is the scope for actions aiming to advance a more pro-poor agenda and curb the acute inequality found in the metropolises of the so-called developing countries? With that concern in mind, this paper examines the potentials and limitations of recent redevelopments in Rio de Janeiro to counteract durable inequality, as conceptualised by Charles Tilly. To do so we analysed secondary evidence and recent primary fieldwork drawing on 48 interviews with a range of stakeholders involved in the city’s preparations for recent mega events, urban development and resistance to evictions, particularly in Vila Autódromo and Providência communities. Results show that there is room for progressive intervention and change at the local level if the underlying drivers of structural inequality are appropriately identified and systematically targeted by combined state and social movements’ political actions.

Keywords:

• Urban governance
• globalisation
• neoliberal development
• urban land
• low-income housing
• inequality
• insurgent planning
• Rio de Janeiro

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In that month, the workers party president was impeached by a conservative coalition, allegedly based on minor accounting technicalities. Some scholars viewed (perhaps prematurely) the election of left leaning governments and direct action at the grass root level in Latin America including Brazil as counter hegemonic tendencies that were leading to the emergence of a post-neoliberal condition (Peck et al. 2009; Sader 2009; Sekler 2009). In some countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador the election of more radical governments were viewed as leading to hegemonic disputes with the elected governments seeking to place themselves outside the dominant neoliberal paradigm (Sader 2009). In others such as Brazil and Uruguay it is argued it led to the constitution of significant resistance albeit within what is still an overall neoliberal context.

2 The City Statute Act, promulgated in 2001, establishes the regulatory framework for Brazilian urban policies.

3 This approach has received strong criticism for excessively particularizing urban experiences and knowledge production and thus making any true cross comparison and general theorization unfeasible (for further critiques of this and other contemporary major urban theories, see Storper and Scott 2016). Although we tend to agree, we also believe that it is currently important to diversify theoretical and empirical explorations beyond North America and Western Europe to sharpen urban theory.

4 510 BRL, considering the BRL-USD exchange rate of 1.75.

5 This is the public service that collects garbage directly from each house, rather than from a single location in the neighbourhood, where residents need to gather their collective litter.

6 Public sanitation means that houses are connected to the public sewage network.

7 In 2017, 75% of victims of homicide in Brazil were either black or mixed—pardo (IBGE 2018). For more information, see https://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34786

8 Translated from the original in Portuguese by the authors.

9 In 2012 the compensation amount was about £70,000 BRL. This was relatively significant although not sufficient to buy a low income flat in the private market in the same area that started at about £80,000 BRL.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ramin M-Keivani

Ramin M-Keivani is Head of School of the Built Environment and Professor of International Land Policy and Urban Development at Oxford Brookes University. The main aspect of his work focuses on impacts of economic globalisation on urban development and urban equity particularly in relation to low-income access to land and housing in the Global South. Email: [email protected]

Erick Omena de Melo

Erick Omena de Melo is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)/Institute of Research and Urban and Regional Planning (IPPUR), with research interests focused on state-civil society relationships from an international comparative perspective. Email: [email protected]

Sue Brownill

Sue Brownill is Professor of Urban Policy and Governance at the School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University. Her research focuses on issues of power, participation and diversity in planning and regeneration. She has a background in working for and with community organisations. Email: [email protected]