The changing image of suburban areas in Latin America and the role of local government

Abstract

The image of Latin American suburbs has changed in the last two decades as they have become more heterogeneous with the development of gated communities that coexist with poor-household settlements. Developers, local government staff and gated community residents are the main actors involved in the process of urban development of the periphery.This chapter analyses the development of gated communities on the periphery from the perspective of local governments in Argentina and Mexico: it looks at how politicians and officers justify gated communities, what the opinions about these residential developments are, and how the relationships with developers and gated community residents are established.The main argument of the chapter is that there seems to be a contradictory situation regarding gated communities as local government staff usually see them as ‘anti-urban’ and they do not agree with the values behind them, but at the same time, they accept (and sometimes also encourage) their development arguing that it is what a particular social group asks for and might be a solution to individual security. Hence, this chapter is divided into four sections. The first section explains the dynamics of growth and social differentiation in the Latin American periphery and the development of gated communities. The second section examines the main actors involved in urban development, considering their features and duties. The third section presents an analysis of the local government and their position in relation to the growth of gated communities, based on empirical information obtained through semi-structured interviews with local government staff over the last years. Finally, the conclusion goes back to the initial argument of the chapter emphasising the contradictory relationship between gated communities and local governments.