Poder local e gestão urbana

Este artigo propõe analisar a articulação entre as esferas de poder local e o poder público, a partir de uma descrição etnográfica da organização social e de como, nesta, se estrutura a autoridade política local. Nesse processo de construção da autori­dade local, na praia do Aventureiro, Ilha Grande - RJ, o poder político e a autoridade le­gitimada pelos moradores estão diretamente ligados à posse dos barcos e dos campings mais prósperos. Os donos de barco no Aventureiro assumem, nesse contexto, o papel de representantes legítimos do povoado na negociação com órgãos da Prefeitura e do Esta­do, na defesa dos direitos dos moradores, assumindo um papel de representação da or­ganização doméstica (em famílias e grupos vicinais) nas relações políticas com o Estado.

O autor analisa a relação entre a literatura que trata da configuração das instituições democráticas, em décadas recentes, e aqueles trabalhos que abordam as características da cultura política dos espaços urbanos. Argumenta sobre a necessidade de se viabilizar o diálogo entre as perspectivas teóricas culturalista e institucionalista, que, até agora, se desenvolvem de forma paralela e estanque.    

Existing studies about the politics of southern cities, particularly Latin American cities, need to pay more attention to the political institutions behind urban governance. These institutions, additionally, were not created by design but are a product of intertwined historical processes. This article analyzes the main features and transformations of Latin American local governments, their politics, and governance, looked at from the angle of their historical formation. Mobilizing arguments from urban studies and political science usually developed apart, I start with the legacies of two intertwined historical processes—urbanization(s) and state formation(s)—to later observe their recent transformations since the recent return(s) to democracy. The reconstruction of these intertwined historical trajectories and of the effects of the present democratic period help to jointly explain the most important features of the politics of local governments in Latin America that influence their governance and actions—capacities, political grammars, actors, and coalitions—as well as their recent transformations.

Why do local governments produce redistributive urban policies, particularly in cities of the Global South? Present debates oscillate between highlighting these cities’ governmental problems or sustaining the enabling role of institutionalized social participation. From the standpoint of São Paulo, Brazil, this article shows a different picture. The trajectories of 27 redistributive urban programs follow a conflictive and incremental expansion and diversification of redistributive policies through time. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) techniques indicate that program creation usually happened in left-wing administrations. Most of them were maintained after government swings, although at lower pace, due mainly to the pressure of political competition, but also on account of multi-level politics and policy routinization. Even previously discontinued programs tended to reemerge later, due to the embeddedness of civil society actors in policy communities and multi-level politics. Therefore, trajectories were explained by a combination of partisan politics and median voter mechanisms with policy production processes and actors.

Many authors agree that gentrification in Latin America depends on the intervention of the state. However, for the renovation of large urban areas that have long lacked public attention, state intervention is a pivotal driver. This comparative analysis involved fieldwork analysis and short ethnographies in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Results show variations and some common threads, namely land valorization policies, schemes designed to promote the creation of economic opportunities for upper-income investors and developers, the establishment of creative or cultural industrial hubs, investment in new transport and cultural infrastructure, city rebranding, and the use of iconic architecture. Displacement policies have been implemented in Brazil, although with limited success. In Brazil and Mexico, attempts have been made to control social behaviors within particular spaces, often in a racialized manner. We arrive at a narrative that differs from that of the Global North, which considers state-led gentrification to constitute the privatization of social housing under the hegemonic imposition of discourses of “social mixing.” The concept of state and its trajectory differ considerably in each hemisphere.

A realidade dos movimentos sociais é bastante dinâmica e nem sempre as teorizações têm acompanhado esse dinamismo. Com a globalização e a informatização da sociedade, os movimentos sociais em muitos países, inclusive no Brasil e em outros países da América Latina, tenderam a se diversificar e se complexificar. Por isso, muitas das explicações paradigmáticas ou hegemônicas nos estudos da segunda metade do século XX necessitam de revisões ou atualizações ante a emergência de novos sujeitos sociais ou cenários políticos. Este estudo busca, inicialmente, uma compreensão acerca da nova configuração da sociedade civil organizada, explicitando os múltiplos tipos de ações coletivas do novo milênio. A partir desta compreensão, busca-se explorar a diversidade identitária dos sujeitos, a transversalidade nas demandas por direitos, as formas de ativismo e de empoderamento através de articulações em rede e, finalmente, a participação política das organizações em rede.

This article analyzes urban governance innovations in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, focusing on the role of these innovations within the wider political management strategy of the executive leader. These innovations, all of which utilize digital information and communication technologies, are important elements within a leadership and management strategy. The article explores the role of digital innovations within the broader strategy of the mayor’s use of managerial tools as means to strengthen control of the city’s governance. Though presented as an apolitical management style of “what works,” this form of management is also deployed to enforce contentious political decisions with substantial implications for the social fabric of the city. This article offers an analysis of the political role and implications of urban governance and public service innovations that are often presented and analyzed in purely instrumental and apolitical ways.

A process is recognized as collaborative when it demonstrates the involvement of multiple stakeholders who are mobilized to interact and negotiate horizontally in order to achieve common objectives. Although efforts can be made to make a process collaborative, a governance process is situated in particular histories and geographies, and collectively shared cultures, norms, and behaviors can help or hinder the emergence of inclusive democratic practices. As a result of broader urban reforms that have been occurring in Brazil over the last 20 years, and particularly a shift in the institutional arrangement of planning in Curitiba, the 2014 Curitiba Master Plan was developed within a more democratic framework, with the engagement of several governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders. Despite adopting a more collaborative approach to planning, this plan is as generic as the 2004 Curitiba Master Plan it replaced, which was proposed within a technocratic framework. If the 2004 and 2014 institutional arrangements and processes were so different, why did they achieve similar results? To answer this question, this study investigates which elements influence the endurance of established practices in urban planning processes. The basic assumption is that the final product of a planning process is heavily influenced by existing and long-lasting institutions, which carry internal beliefs and procedures into new planning approaches. The evidence pre-sented in this study shows that path dependence on ideas, behaviors, and actions has been perpetuating planning practices that have been established in Curitiba for decades.