Circulations of planning ideas and urban policy mobilities in Latin America

Abstract

The circulation of ideas and practices is intrinsic to the development of urban policies and cities. The mobilization of knowledge from elsewhere has been an important tool for the resolution of technical issues as well as to build political legitimacy. In this sense, Latin American cities provide a privileged viewpoint to observe these processes. Many of those cities were historically shaped by the adoption and adaptation of Euro-centric modernity ideals. However, this relationship cannot be understood as passive subordination but historically negotiated by local elites and policy actors. From the last decades of the twentieth century, Latin American cities also became important centres of political innovation. A relational comprehension of the long-standing power relations, actors, processes and networks involved in urban policy circulation is necessary to understand Latin American cities.