Lo político en lo urbano. Pobreza urbana en el pasado reciente. Villa Jardín, 1958-1967

Abstract

The present article takes a case study – Villa Jardín, Buenos Aires, 1958-1967 – as a starting point to analyze different ways of political practice urban space, especially in contexts of urban poverty. The article focuses on the occupation and transformation of urban space, distinguishing two types of shantytown practices. On the one hand, urban territory in Villa Jardín was occupied and transformed everyday through micro-scale actions such as land filling, house construction, or the setting up of piped water networks amongst others. On the other hand, a simultaneous set of practices was related to mobilisation, to residents’ claims for their right to stay in their locations. This led them to appoint representatives, to negotiate, and to present demands to the state. This article argues that both modalities can be read as political acts of space transformation since both affect the decision of how population is distributed across urban territory.