Latin American Cities and Regions

Abstract

This chapter discusses Latin American cities and regions as an analytical category and a material reality. Rather than providing a definitive definition of what the Latin American city is vis-à-vis other categories, this chapter traces the intellectual history of the category and describes current urbanisation dynamics to highlight long-standing tensions between specificity, exceptionalism and generalisation that have shaped and continue to shape how scholars understand and analyse urbanisation in the region. The chapter begins by tracing the Latin American city as an idea that has correlated with economic, political, and intellectual realities of different historical moments. A second section discusses contemporary dynamics present across the region, focusing on the last two decades of the twentieth century and onwards. A final section serves as conclusion by reflecting on what ongoing and nascent research avenues on Latin American cities might tell us about these cities’ position in relation to today’s urban studies field.