Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Neighbourhood planning and the right to the city: confronting neoliberal state urban practices in Salvador, Brazil

Neighbourhood planning and the right to the city: confronting neoliberal state urban practices in... INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 2018 VOL. 10, NO. 1, 1–15 https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2018.1433677 ARTICLE Neighbourhood planning and the right to the city: confronting neoliberal state urban practices in Salvador, Brazil a a b Maya Manzi , Glória Cecília dos Santos Figueiredo , Laila Nazem Mourad and Thaís de Miranda Rebouças Post-Graduation Program in Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture of the Federal University of Bahia (FA-UFBA), Salvador, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Territorial Planning and Social development, Catholic University of Salvador (UCSAL), Salvador, Brazil ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 20 June 2017 In this article, we discuss the possibilities for and challenges to the urban planning Accepted 23 January 2018 process at the neighbourhood level, from the perspective of the right to the city. We focus on the 2 de Julho, a neighbourhood located in the Old Centre of Salvador, KEYWORDS Bahia (Brazil), where processes of gentrification have pressed the local population to Brazil; gentrification; demand its own neighbourhood plan. We problematise neighbourhood planning neighbourhood planning; from the radical perspective of the right to the city, in its potential to generate a neoliberalism; urban conflicts; collaborative process that originates ‘in-conflict’ and as an instrument of negotiation participatory planning; right to the city vis-a-vis the state. We argue that neighbourhood planning not only promotes autonomy and self-management, but also contributes to making the State more accountable. In this way, it has the potential to subvert conventional urban practices that reproduce socio-spatial exclusion, inequalities and injustices whilst contesting the neoliberal logic that dispenses the state from its social responsibilities. rationale. One of the main actions is the ‘Santa 1. Introduction Teresa Cluster’, a government-supported project The purpose of this article is to discuss how neigh- designed in 2007 by the private sector for the neigh- bourhood planning can contribute to the ‘right to bourhood, where approximately 50 properties – the city’ for a population affected by gentrification including grounds, ruins and houses – were acquired processes caused by recent changes in the economy to be transformed into lofts, hostels, hotels, shops, and real-estate developers driving urban restructur- restaurants and offices. This private project was then ing. Our discussion is based on a neighbourhood reformulated by the Municipal government in 2012 planning experience in 2 de Julho, a historic neigh- under the name of ‘Santa Tereza Neighbourhood bourhood in the old centre of Salvador, Bahia (Brazil), Humanisation Project’ (Projeto de Humanização do where urban restructuring processes are taking Bairro Santa Tereza) that would not only change the shape through corporate and State actions driven name of this historic neighbourhood, but also pro- by an urban-space gentrification and privatisation foundly transform its makeup. CONTACT Maya Manzi mayamanzi@gmail.com Maria Sibylla Merian International Centre Latin America: Conviviality-Inequality. Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), Rua Morgado de Mateus, 615 - Vila Mariana, 04015-051, São Paulo (SP), Brazil This is an updated version of the article presented at the International Seminar ‘El Derecho a la Ciudad en América Latina: Transformaciones económicas y Derecho a la Ciudad’ (The Right to the City in Latin America: Economic Transformations and the Right to the City), CLACSO/ Universidad Nacional General Sarmiento, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 24th and 25th April 2015. The results of the ‘2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan’ are based on collective work by the research group Lugar Comum of the Post- Graduation Program in Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Bahia (PPGAU-FAUFBA) in collaboration with social movements and entities of the 2 de Julho neighbourhood, in Salvador (BA), Brazil. It is part of the research project ‘Bairros na metrópole: uma escala de política, de direito e de experiência’ (Neighbourhoods in the metropolis: a scale of politics, rights and experience) under the coordination of Dr. Ana Fernandes. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2 M. MANZI ET AL. In opposition to this process, different social groups, the current Municipal Master Plan 2008 (Salvador residents and visitors of 2 de Julho, have brought about 2008) for the Municipality of Salvador. The neigh- collective actions, including the request by the Our- bourhood is also part of Salvador’s Old Centre, the Neighbourhood-is-2-de-Julho Movement (Movimento boundaries of which were established by Salvador’s Nosso Bairro é 2 de Julho_MNB2J) to elaborate a Old Town Bureau of Reference (ERCAS 2010). Participatory Neighbourhood Plan. This was attended In the absence of an official demarcation of the to by the research group ‘Lugar Comum’ (Common neighbourhood boundaries, we considered – for Place) from the Faculty of Architecture of the Federal an approximate reckoning of the area’surban University of Bahia (FA-UFBA), and was initiated in characteristics – the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood January 2014 with the aim of developing a neighbour- outline defined by the 2 de Julho hood plan with propositions that would reflect local Neighbourhood Plan through interviews realised needs and demands. with 259 residents. By adopting this outline, we The possibilities and challenges that we argue this seek to advance towards a concept of participatory neighbourhood plan holds for the right Neighbourhood that neither superposes to nor is to the city are based on the planning process experi- restricted by the administrative-region boundaries. ence itself, as a University Extension Project that aims In this view, the neighbourhood is understood as to promote dialogue and collaborative work between constituted by an everyday living space, where the university and the community. This research also social neighbourhood relations occur and people builds upon the critical urban studies and urban get close to each other. Moreover, this mapping geography literatures, which discuss the right to the reflects the social diversity, customs and occupa- city from the Lefebvrian perspective, as in Mitchell tions of the people who live in and use this urban (2003), Purcell (2002, 2013), Souza (2010) and Harvey setting, based on their activities (Figure 1). (2012). In that sense, we understand a neighbourhood From this perspective, our work aims to shed as a place, which Milton Santos defines as: light on the processes and practices that enable and limit the right to the city, understood as the a framework for a pragmatic reference to the world – in residents’ right to use, access and effectively con- which solicitations and precise requests for conditioned tribute to the production of their urban space. actions intervene – but it is also the irreplaceable thea- Survey results by Mourad (2011)andMourad tre of human passions – from which stem, through the act of communication, the most diverse manifestations et al. (2014)wereusedtoanalyse thegentrifica- of spontaneity and creativity. (Santos 2008, p. 322, our tion processes in Salvador’s Old Centre, drawing translation) from and adding on to the literature on urban restructuring processes in Brazil by Arantes This understanding recalls, to some extent, a clas- (2000), Vainer (2002), Maricato (2002), Rolnik sic reference, i.e. the concept of the neighbourhood (2006)andFernandesetal. (2016), amongst unit, formulated by US sociologist, Clarence Perry. others. For this author, the neighbourhood unit relates to the allocation and location of primary education facilities, recreational areas and local shops – which 2. The 2 de Julho neighbourhood: what kind should be at walking distance from people’s homes of a place is this? (Hall 2007). Another convergent formulation is Angelo Serpa’s(2007), who sees the neighbourhood 2.1. Location ‘. . .as language and discourse [. . .] since its bound- The MunicipalityofSalvadordoesnot havean aries vary and are perceived in different ways by its official updated mapping of neighbourhood residents, who “build their own neighbourhood” as a boundaries, but 2 de Julho can be located within basis for daily strategies of individual and collective the institutional Administrative Region plan. In this action’ (p. 28). regional subdivision, the 2 de Julho Everyday practices taking place in the neighbour- Neighbourhood is part of a sub-area included in hood also engender emotional connections to the Administrative Region I – Centre, as defined by living and dwelling space. Geographers, sociologists Municipal Law No 7,400/2008 that puts into effect and urbanists have studied the affective aspects as INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3 Figure 1. ‘Localisation of 2 de Julho Neighbourhood, Salvador’s Old Centre (CAS), Salvador (BA)’. Source: based on map of Salvador (Datum: SAD 69 UTM Zona 24s) and primary research data collected in 2014–15 by 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Planning Project. an important dimension for the production of such can encourage acts of solidarity or instigate territorial places (Soja 1989; 2006; Thrift 2007; Jones and Evans conflicts that do not necessarily play out on a larger 2007). According to this approach, neighbourhoods scale. Thus, the neighbourhood can become a privi- are built by transforming such connections into peo- leged place for the realisation of the right to the city, ple’s disposition or ability to take actions. For exam- as these differentiated socio-spatial relationships ple, the feeling of belonging (or exclusion) on the increase the possibilities of appropriation of space – part of the residents towards their neighbourhood by its residents. 4 M. MANZI ET AL. 2.2. Population and income historical and cultural features, associated with Salvador’s Old Centre and the All Saints’ Bay – and According to the 2010 Census data from IBGE [The holding significant patrimonial real-estate assets. Part Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute], the 2 de of the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood is registered by the Julho neighbourhood had then a population of 5,235 UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. This residents – averaging 2.4 dwellers per household, well Neighbourhood is thus clearly distinguishable from below Bahia’s State average of 3.5. Of this total, 46% were the rest of the city, and has great symbolic signifi- men and 54% were women. As for age groups, it is to be cance. It was also declared a Strict Preservation Area noted that adults formed the majority of the population (Salvador 1983, paragraphs 107–110) as well as a (with 65% of all considered denizens in the 30–59 age Cultural and Landscape Protection Area (APCP) bracket). In terms of race, the incidence of black and (Salvador 2008, paragraphs 229–32). mixed race people was 67%. Economically, 2 de Julho is The 2 de Julho neighbourhood is situated in a privi- a predominantly low-income neighbourhood, as 62% of leged location, in terms of its connections to the muni- households have a monthly income of up to three times cipality’s street network, public transportation system the minimum wage (IBGE 2010). and shipping facilities. Its residents have relatively easy In terms of employment, 2 de Julho residents hold a access to the various services, activities and infrastruc- range of different formal and informal occupations and ture which are available in Salvador’sOld Centre. The represent a diversity of social groups: artists, students, coverage of basic sanitation and electricity services in intellectuals, foreigners, bohemians, small business own- the neighbourhood is high with 99.8% of its residences ers, the poor and the homeless. The neighbourhood having access to the city-network water supply, 98.1% stands out for holding one of the few outdoor markets to a city-sewer or runoff system connection, 99.9% to in the Old Town, for its street sellers and unpretentious regular garbage collection and 100% to the electrical shops, cultural and political events, popular bars and grid (IBGE 2010). As such, the 2 de Julho neighbour- restaurants – frequented by different generations and hood has significant urban features and a prominent social classes – lively colours and smells, and children location in the City of Salvador. The gentrification pro- playing in squares and up and down the hilly streets – cesses affecting the neighbourhood have to do with – with breath-taking views onto Salvador’s All Saints’ Bay. amongst other issues – disputes over territorial claims. Nonetheless, the continuing existence of this social diversity in the neighbourhood is at a serious risk. In recent years, the neighbourhood real-estate mar- 3. The Santa Tereza Cluster: a gentrifying ket appreciation associated with the gentrification pro- act in the 2 de Julho neighbourhood cess has become a threat to the permanence of its Several authors (e.g. Arantes 2000;Maricato 2002; historically disadvantaged population, a significant Vainer 2002;Rolnik 2006; José 2007;Mourad 2011; part of which is composed of tenants. IBGE’s2010 Fernandes et al. 2016)warn that inBrazil – especially Census data indicate that the neighbourhood had a in large cities – the redevelopment of central areas has total of 2,196 permanent households that year, most been characterised by gentrification processes, pro- of which, i.e. 71% of the considered universe, living in moting the attraction of new types of activities and apartments. Close to half of the residences (about 47%) residents, economic reinvestment, a change in image were rented, with an almost equal proportion (48%) of and meaning, environmental improvement and ‘social owned residences (IBGE 2010). cleansing’, i.e. the expulsion of poor residents from the areas of intervention (Mourad et al. 2014). A recent example of these processes is witnessed in 2.3. Urban attributes the way the 2 de Julho neighbourhood has changed, As regards institutional urban-planning provisions following the implementation of the Santa Tereza associated with the 2 de Julho neighbourhood, it Cluster. The Cluster is a project devised for the neigh- lies within the Urban-Renewal Macro Area, charac- bourhood by two developers – Eurofort Patrimonial terised by having infrastructure and utility networks and RFM Participações. In 2007, these private operators available, albeit in great need of maintenance and demarcated a 15-hectare built-up urban-fabric area refurbishing. The 2 de Julho neighbourhood is part of within this sector of Salvador’s Old Centre, partially an area appreciated for its relevant symbolic, overlapping the area declared a World Heritage Site INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 5 by UNESCO in 1985. In recent years, private investors specific area covering many popular, symbolic and have purchased approximately 50 properties – in the 2 treasured features: the Museum of Sacred Art, the de Julho Neighbourhood and surrounding areas – historic Euterpe’s Puppet Carnival Club (known as including grounds, ruins and houses, to be transformed Fantoches), the area’s topography itself – a hillside into lofts, hostels, hotels, shops, restaurants and offices with a breath-taking view of All Saints’ Bay – and 2 (Mourad 2011). de Julho square, which has been, the traditional end- For Hamnett (1991, p.175), gentrification is: ing to the Bahia Independence parade route. These unique urban elements provide the right conditions [. . .] Simultaneously a physical, economic, social and for a regeneration project to be developed within the cultural phenomenon. Gentrification commonly involves gentrification model. The historical and cultural attri- the invasion by middle-class or higher-income groups of previously working-class neighbourhoods or multi-occu- butes of the Old Centre and the All Saints’ Bay are pied “twilight areas” and the replacement or displace- thus mobilised to build an image, capable of lever- ment of many of the original occupants. It involves the aging a marketing strategy and attracting investors physical renovation or rehabilitation of what was fre- (Mourad 2011). quently a highly deteriorated housing stock and its The attempt at acquiring this particular area gen- upgrading to meet the requirements of its new owners. In the process, housing in the areas affected, both reno- erated a speculative real estate appreciation process vated and unrenovated, undergoes a significant price that threatens the permanence of 2 de Julho’s eco- appreciation. nomically weaker population. Such an appreciation is clearly revealed by the survey we carried out at the Smith (1987) explains the gentrification process through Salvador City Hall Finance Department (Sefaz) on title the rent gap (i.e. income disparity) concept, drawing on transfer transactions. It shows an acceleration of real the analysis of divestment and reinvestment data for estate property transactions in the neighbourhood, built-up areas. Gentrification thus occurs when the dis- with a progressive increase in their value. crepancy (‘gap’) between current and potential land Take for instance the 14 units making up the Row valueiswideenoughtogeneratesatisfactoryreturns adjacent to the Museum of Sacred Art: purchased for for the developers. ‘The crucial point about gentrification BRL 5,000 in July 2007, marketed for BRL 17,000 in is that it involves not only a social change but also, at the August 2007 and then resold one year later for BRL neighbourhood scale, a physical change in the housing 114,000 (each). Another piece of property – the stock and an economic change in the land and housing 4,759.17-sq-m area where the Cloc Marina market’ (p. 463). Residence has been constructed – sold for BRL Many of the aspects that characterise gentrification 380,000 in 2001, but in 2007 was purchased for BRL are featured in the implementation of the Santa Tereza 6,000,000 by developer CJ Construtora e Cluster, in the 2 de Julho neighbourhood. As Mourad Incorporadora Ltda. – thus increasing its value 15.8 notes (2011), it all begins with an economically devalued times in a 5-year period. The value of the property yet attractive centre. This combination of devaluation reflects the kind of buyer that the project intends to and attractiveness in the same area has been made attract – far more affluent than the low-income local into a business opportunity by private entrepreneurs. In population needing a place to live. This property the dilapidated, abandoned buildings, investors see mark-up also pushes local rents up (Mourad et al. favourable profit-making conditions – that is, idle real- 2014). estate capital assets characterised by low profitability, whichequatestoadevaluationofbothpublicand pri- vate built-up wealth. 5. Gentrification effects on the 2 de Julho neighbourhood According to Slater (2006), for gentrification studies 4. Economic changes in the 2 de Julho to maintain their critical perspective, it is necessary to neighbourhood: unique real estate focus not only on the roots of gentrification, but also appreciation through private appropriation on the analysis of its perverse effects; particularly, of collective territorial features with regard to the exclusion, segregation, expulsion In an intentional and sophisticated way, the Santa and eviction of the disadvantaged populations. With Tereza Cluster developers chose and marked out a this in mind, the Santa Tereza Cluster is unmistakably 6 M. MANZI ET AL. an act of gentrification that threatens the social policy goal the full development of the city and rights and permanence of the population living in urban-property social functions, through a demo- and using the Old Centre area. It becomes part of a cratic management process driven by public partici- trend to replace pauperised populations and inten- pation in the formulation, implementation and sify socio-spatial segregation through the purchase monitoring of urban development plans, pro- of inhabited buildings by private agents, institutional grammes and projects (item II of art. 2). expropriations, arbitrary evictions by public officials With regard to the purpose of the expropriations, and high rents. The Santa Tereza Cluster boundaries though they are intended – according to the afore- marked out a subdivision of the 2 de Julho neigh- mentioned state decrees – for preservation, conser- bourhood, resulting in a polarised concentration of vation and/or refurbishment of buildings, in order to resources and leading to the intensification of segre- allow for the historical, cultural and economic reha- gation and spatial and urban inequalities. bilitation of Salvador’s Old Centre, their actual desti- The real estate located next to the Museum of nation and specific use is not declared. This is a Sacred Art – an ancient row belonging to the serious issue, because there are within this area Archdiocese of Salvador – was purchased and Santa about 1,500 buildings identified as empty or under- Tereza Cluster developers began project execution utilised, although no urban-planning tool is being by evicting the population. The area, acquired to applied for them to fulfil their social functions – make way for the luxury TXAI design hotel, pre- which reveals overt property speculation under way. viously comprised 14 houses, inhabited by low- Along with the expropriation threats that are mainly income residents. Residents of Coração de Maria affecting people and families who belong to the neigh- Row (Vila Coração de Maria), on Democrata Street, bourhood’s most socially and economically disadvan- have been living under similar threats of eviction. taged groups, those deemed to be the most The St. Peter Brotherhood of Clerics – owner of the ‘disagreeable’– i.e. drug users or the homeless – have buildings – filed an act to repossess the property, already suffered the ongoing effects of gentrification. An which puts the permanence of the residents at risk intervention by Salvador Municipal officers, called ‘Order – including that of the 86-years-old tenant, Mrs. Anita in the House’, took place in November 2013 – with the Ferreira Sales, who has maintained upkeep on the support of the Military Police, the Municipal Guard and property for 45 years. Vila Coração de Maria is set in a 170 men from virtually all municipal agencies. It resulted strategic position, adjacent to the Cloc Marina in the removal of about 70 people from dilapidated Residence, which is part of the Santa Tereza Cluster. houses, and the destruction of many of the buildings More recently – in late 2013 – another issue con- they occupied. This social cleansing occurred on and cerned the area, as Salvador’s Old Centre was the target around Preguiça Hill, a historically marginalised neigh- of five decrees for the expropriation of several proper- bourhood area inhabited by low-income black families, ties for public use. The 2 de Julho Neighbourhood was also known as a hotbed of drug trafficking and charac- directly affected by three of these decrees: one by the terised by a considerable presence of homeless and municipality (Salvador 2013) that declared public use as substance-dependent people. the reason for the expropriation of 57 properties, on As a counter to this process of gentrification, a the grounds of a redevelopment project to be carried number of social groups, residents and people who out in and around the Preguiça Community; and two frequent the 2 de Julho neighbourhood promoted by the State Government (Bahia 2013a;Bahia 2013b), collective actions, amongst which was the request by affecting 24 and 67 buildings, respectively – both the Movement Our-Neighbourhood-is-2-de-Julho intended, on paper, for the historical, cultural and eco- (MNB2J) to design a Participatory Neighbourhood Plan. nomic rehabilitation of Salvador’sOld Centre. No public debate, hearing or consultation was held to present any of these redevelopment projects 6. The experience of the 2 de Julho to the public – which proves that a deficit of partici- neighbourhood planning pation exists amongst the residents of the Old Centre 6.1. Neighbourhood plans areas who would be directly affected by the decrees. This attitude ignores the general guidelines of the Urban planning at the municipal level – commonly City Statute (Brasil 2001), which set as an urban known for the resulting Municipal Master Plans INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 7 (Planos Diretores) – has been heavily criticised in the existing limitations in the Municipal Master Plan Brazil, for failing to contribute to reducing urban preparation and implementation process, especially and socio-territorial inequalities and exclusion in with regard to technical and political confrontations Brazilian cities. Municipal Master Plans are blamed that come up locally. This is a process that for mostly responding favourably to the demands Vainer et al. call Conflict-Based Planning, ‘which of capitalist groups in urban production, whilst ignor- wagers on the ability of conflict-related processes to ing – at least in their implementation – the demands constitute collective subjects capable of occupying of the historically marginalised populations, who the public scene in an autonomous way’ (2013, p. 17, have been fighting for social and territorial justice our translation). Thus, urban planning, highly criti- for decades. Even after the City Statute was cised for its ideological weight and ineffectiveness, approved, in 2001 – establishing democratic man- is used here as a tool to address the conflict. agement as a structural element in urban policy It is understood, in this case, that the best place design and requiring citizens’ participation at all for the practice of participatory urban planning – levels of public policy decision-making – recent which addresses the right to the city – is where urban planning and management experiences have daily life and living physically occur: the neighbour- shown that little progress has been made in its hood, thus acknowledged as a space to be appro- implementation. priated (Carlos 2004). The neighbourhood is also a Some authors (e.g. Villaça 2005; Maricato 2011; territory where the right to the city can be made Rolnik 2011) highlight important factors that contri- factual, for being a ‘glocalised’ place (Swyngedouw bute to the ineffectiveness and lack of credibility of 2004), where local living intersects with social and municipal urban planning. Amongst such factors is economic processes of a different scale – substan- the inability of city administrators to implement tiated in the form of local contradictions, conflicts Municipal Master Plans, which, as noted by Villaça and potential. (2005, p. 90) ‘stems from the chasm between their In our view, thus, participatory neighbourhood discourse and our municipality’s administration prac- planning – bringing residents to front stage – allows tices, and from the inequality that characterises our for greater local involvement in the discussions dur- political and economic reality’. According to Maricato ing the drafting process. It also allows for deeper (2011), top-down urban planning – as done in cur- discussions, thus opening the possibility of incorpor- rent practices – cannot integrate the conflicts inher- ating existing conflicts between different social ent in society and the disputes between its different groups, active either within the neighbourhood or actors. Existing social conflicts are usually not con- on other levels. Consequently, this is also a way to sidered in Municipal Master Plans, which refer to better understand how the subjects involved are unimpeded and peaceful scenarios. benefited or harmed by the on-going local processes The experience of public discussions on Salvador’s – as well as how and why this occurs. Municipal Master Plan, throughout 2007, revealed how difficult it is to mobilise the population – and 6.2. 2 de Julho neighbourhood planning ensure effective popular participation in the debate on where to head in city planning. The main criti- The proposal for the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan cisms of the process referred to the difficulty of arose following collective actions by the neighbour- access to the technical studies supporting the plan hood’s social groups, residents and people who frequent and the chosen methodology for participation, in or inhabit the area. They try to respond to strong urban- addition to the lack of incorporation of new content space privatisation trends, and uphold their demands – or criticisms and suggestions for changes into the clustered around neighbourhood improvements and plan. Consistent low public attendance was also a the defence of local people’s rights. Such demands feature of this process, as very few people would included the elaboration of a ‘popular’ Neighbourhood usually show up at public hearings, generally due Plan that the MNB2J had started drafting, but soon had to insufficient dissemination or inappropriate to abandon due to lack of resources. Neighbourhood schedules. planning was later made possible through a FA-UFBA In this context, the Neighbourhood Plan came extension project, in January 2014. This experience thus about as a way to potentially overcome some of shows the possibilities and challenges that 8 M. MANZI ET AL. neighbourhood planning offers as a local collaborative project between the university and the neighbourhood residents, independent of State or private interests. In this view, the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan aims towards the expansion and systematisation of knowledge about the neighbourhood, the political strengthening and technical training of the people involved, and towards the collective construction of guidelines for its full development – be it under a social, cultural, economic, political or environ- mental perspective. The process of developing a Neighbourhood Plan represents a possibility of mediating a different kind of territorial pact. This brings about the opportunity for the collective Figure 2. ‘Dreams, Propositions and Projects Workshop in 2 de Julho, construction of strategies, to knit together such Salvador, 2014’. The second workshop focused on the dreams, proposals issues as public spaces, social diversity, technical and projects of residents, state and private initiative, for the neighbour- hood. A large map was used for the residents to locate their dreams and and social infrastructure, community facilities, ade- propositions for the neighbourhood, identifying also their agents. This quate housing and integration with city life, in workshop was held in the neighbourhood public state college ‘Colégio order to articulate the many activities, uses and Estadual Ypiranga’ on 26 April 2014. Photo by Camila Brandão. occupations that define such space (Fernandes 2013). neighbourhood’s public and commercial establish- The reflections on the possibilities and challenges ments over more than a year’speriod. for the right to the city through the 2 de Julho The most concerning issues for the participants Neighbourhood Plan date back to when it was con- were: public insecurity, which residents directly ceived, in 2013, as the associated UFBA extension pro- related to a high crime rate; infrastructural problems, ject was being prepared. In the first year of plan especially improper sewage and water canalisation ,9 implementation advancements were made in system- system that was related to increasing outbreaks of atising and expanding neighbourhood knowledge, and vector-born diseases such as dengue, zika and chi- in strengthening the political and technical capacity of kungunha; the lack of green areas and increasing the organisations and social movements involved. This depredatory practices of the municipality towards was done through the collection of primary-data (from the few remaining trees found in the city centre to questionnaires, technical field visits, workshops and make space for their reform projects ; and the need meetings with neighbourhood leaders and residents) to protect the most disadvantaged groups from the and secondary-data (from academic production, tech- perverse effects of the gentrification process, nical reports and records of public administrative amongst other matters. offices), as well as through a process of social mobilisa- The participation of various groups and represen- tion that involved the production of virtual and physi- tatives from different segments of the local popula- cal informative material (e.g. blog, banners, flyers, tion was essential to the collective construction of folders, videos). Aside from surveying local potentials, the neighbourhood plan drafting process. As several problems and material needs (i.e. access to and authors point out (Mouffe 2000; Watson 2003; improvement of goods and services), some of such Calderon 2013), it is important not to pursue the activities were designed to retrieve and encourage need for consensus in discussions and collective deci- emotional memories and collective dreaming of the sion-making – as understanding unequal power rela- neighbourhood. The plan also involved the collective tions and accommodating conflicts and disputes are construction of guidelines and proposals during work- essential and constructive for the participation pro- shops with residents that were held in different parts of cess. Thus, the Neighbourhood Plan team was the neighbourhood and at different times along the responsible for identifying, discussing and dissemi- process (Figure 2). Propositions were also collected nating opinions and divergent proposals, contribut- during interviews with 174 residents and in ‘dream ing – whenever possible – to building covenants boxes’ that circulated in some of the key INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 9 relating to these conflicts and differences – whilst the community residents prompting them to emer- considering the actual possibility that such an under- gently evacuate their houses alleging that these were standing may never come to be. Therefore, following also under risk of collapse. In response to such unjus- Vainer et al. (2013), the Neighbourhood Plan – out- tified drastic measures, joined action between the side being a tool of vindication – also aimed to serve Neighbourhood Plan team, the Articulation of Social the population as a tool for the full disclosure and Movements and Communities of Salvador's Old management of conflicts. Centre and the residents of the Preguiça commu- A concern that permeated the 2 de Julho experi- nity led to the formulation of a technical report that ence and constituted a major challenge throughout made evident the inadequacy of such measures for its development was the difficulty in mobilising the the majority of the houses under notice and pointed population, in order to ensure effective local partici- to the urgent need of restoration of two houses on pation during the whole planning process. The rea- the Preguiça Hill that were under imminent risk of sons for this difficulty were of different orders, many collapse. These reports were then used in meetings of which corresponded to Calderon’s(2013) case with State representatives to uphold these demands. studies’ observations, e.g. the inability to maintain This three-year process of collaborative neighbour- an ongoing dialogue with the community and hood planning resulted in the construction of 43 pro- involve it in all the activities of the Neighbourhood positions grouped in 10 different themes. For each Plan; the difficulty of dialoguing with the variety of proposition was identified the proposed place of inter- groups and social segments found in the neighbour- vention, the responsible agents, the potential benefici- hood; the fact that many individuals were unwilling aries and the modes of action to implement them. Most to participate in public-interest discussions; a disbe- propositions (21%) were localised in the Preguiça area, lief in urban planning on record for historically not the most disadvantaged and marginalized sector of the being implemented; a tendency for groups or indivi- neighbourhood. Almost half of them (48%) had the duals to take on leadership behaviours in debates, State as the main responsible agent for implementa- inhibiting the participation of others; and, a lack of tion and 22% of the demands indicated an articulation competence and professional knowledge on how to between the community and the responsible govern- include local people in the planning process. mental institutions as a preferred mode of action. The Within this perspective, collective actions were taken propositions included the creation of green spaces and along the planning process as conflicts related to the recreational areas for kids and elders; the planting of right to the city arose within the neighbourhood. For trees throughout the neighbourhood; the creation of example, one of the major conflicts of interest that urban gardens; the demand for social housing to emerged at the outset of the planning process was the ensure the permanence of low-income residents; the publication of state and municipal expropriation decrees creation of a day-care; and a special care centre for (mentioned above), which threatened the permanence homeless and substance-dependent people using of the most disadvantaged part of the neighbourhood vacant/underutilised land, amongst other matters. population. In response, the Neighbourhood Plan team In its final form – as a written technical report and a and the MNB2J joined forces to inform the local popula- community folder – the Neighbourhood Plan is meant tion about their rights and pressurise the municipal and to serve as an instrument for the residents to uphold state governments through judicial representation at the their demands towards the State and as a guide for Public Ministry and the convening of meetings with community action and self-management. At the government representatives asking for justification of moment of writing this article, the Neighbourhood such measures and demanding for the protection of Plan was at its final stage, being prepared for the pre- people’s rights; especially, their rights to decent housing, sentation of the final results to the community. transparent information and participation as stated in the Brazilian Constitution and City Statute (Figure 3). 7. Possibilities and challenges to the right to In May 2015, another of such conflicts arose fol- the city in neighbourhood planning lowing the death of one resident of the Preguiça community caused by the collapse of colonial houses The 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan has been built left abandoned for real-estate speculation. Soon within the Lefebvrian perspective of the right to the after, government agents sent a notice to many of city, as in works by Purcell (2002, 2013), Mitchell 10 M. MANZI ET AL. Figure 3. ‘2 de Julho Residences under Municipal and State Expropriation Decrees, Salvador, 2016’. Note: based on a map elaborated by the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Planning Project in 2016 to inform residents about the expropriation process. The map was part of a leaflet that contained information about the rights of owners, renters and squatters and potential ways to mobilise them. The material was disseminated through door-to-door actions, workshops, websites and local meetings. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 11 (2003), Souza (2010) and Harvey (2012). In this per- mediated by the State, at the expense of more spective, we understand the right to the city as the autonomous and self-managed radical actions. right to appropriate urban spaces, not only in the Dealing with such a state of affairs, to be over- sense of being able to access and use all of the come in an extremely unequal society filled with different spaces and services that the city can offer, such immediate and pressing needs does not mean but also, and more importantly, in the sense of being abandoning the utopian horizons raised by the actively involved in the production the city – by Lefebvrian perspective. That is why, in urban reform, having the freedom to reinvent ourselves and the effective commitment to a strategy for establishing city (Harvey 2012). Thus, ‘right’ is understood here the right to the city should have a revolutionary as a collective right that goes beyond institutional character. As stated by Henri Lefebvre: and national legality, favouring non-capitalist forms From issues regarding land ownership to segregation, of socio-spatial interactions and prioritising the use- each urban renovation project calls into question not value (instead of the exchange-value) of space to only the structures of the existing society and daily enhance all aspects of human life in the city. (individual) relationships, but also those intended to Although agreeing with Lefebvre on the need to be forcefully and institutionally imposed on what remains of the existing urban reality. Reformist by nat- gain autonomy towards the State through innovative ure, an urban-reform strategy “necessarily” becomes forms of self-management, we are aware that these revolutionary, not by the force of things, but by being practices can serve the interest of the neoliberal state against what has been established. (Lefebvre 2001,p. as the responsibility to provide basic public-interest 113, our emphasis) policies, programs and services is increasingly put into the hands of unpaid ‘voluntary’ citizens (Jessop With regard to the effective participation of local 2002; Roy 2005). residents and organisations in the Neighbourhood Neighbourhood plans as organising tools for local Planning activities, especially as to the representation demands and vindications on public authority have of the different social groups existing in the neigh- resulted – mainly – in urban plans that aim to bourhood, we understand that popular participation overcome precarious urban and space-regulation is a long-term process that does not merely depend conditions. Consequently, such plans contribute to on the efforts invested by an organizing team – but substantiating the claims – and the process itself of also reflects both historical and circumstantial socio- participating in decision-making as regards the fate political, cultural and economic processes. These pro- of our cities, albeit this participation still requires cesses are conditioned and structured by unequal intercession on the part of the State, and thus cannot power relations that need to be acknowledged, reach the autonomy and self-governance advocated made explicit and faced as an inescapable part of by Lefebvre (2001) and Souza (2010). In fact, the vast the participatory process. Although these power majority of inhabitants of Latin American countries dynamics cannot be ignored, they certainly can be are still in need of basic services and infrastructure to openly contested by a participatory conflict-based be provided or improved (basic sanitation systems planning process, in ways that can begin to subvert and networks, other utilities and well-located, quality or reconfigure them . This approach stands in sharp housing). The level of instability in our cities still contrast to the institutionalised planning strategies forces us to organise our more urgent claims and like those headed by the State. Their pro-form and submit them to public administrators, who bear the liberal logic built upon an a-priori concept of equality responsibility of providing these constitutional rights. create an illusionary democratic context that only Purcell (2002, 2013) makes a provocative and helps to invisibilise – and thus perpetuate – existing quite relevant observation for a revised right to the social asymmetries. city, noting that US levels of urban blight are largely Therefore, we contend that the most intense lower than Latin America’s. In the Brazilian experi- debates occurring in the elaboration of a ence, as well as in the 2 de Julho Plan, a whole set of Neighbourhood Plan also strengthen the right to urgent needs are still related to ensuring survival the city, as they arise at the local level – where the conditions and access to basic social rights, or to processes, relationships and interests of groups oper- the possibility itself for residents to remain in the ating at various levels converge, intersect and collide. city centre. These come as a priority and are largely As we have argued, the most socially and politically 12 M. MANZI ET AL. significant issues are put under the spotlight pre- and never conclusive. In terms of achievements, after cisely in the midst of conflicts, and whenever counter intense participation of the residents in public dis- positions are expressed – thus serving as guidelines cussions for the preparation of the Municipal Master for proposals that can (re)define the course of urban Plan in 2016, a demarcation was conquered as a development, towards more socially just and eman- Zone of Special Social Interest (ZEIS), in the Vila cipatory goals. Coração de Maria, which is part of the neighbour- The neighbourhood plan can serve as an urban hood. This achievement, within the field of municipal planning tool that takes the right to the city closer to urban planning, formalised the right of residence for being accomplished, with the goal of reversing State the inhabitants of Vila Coração de Maria in the face of practices that (re)produce socio-spatial inequalities eviction threats by the property owner. These facts, and socio-environmental injustices. It can be used even though they do not equate to the enforcement as an instrument for making the State more accoun- of the corresponding social and collective rights, may table, challenging the neoliberal logic and reinstating help give visibility to groups of historically margin- government bodies’ role in providing the social wel- alized inhabitants, and to difficult, at least in some fare policies and services they have responsibility levels, the absolute dominion of hegemonic agents, over. This notably concerns City Administration, as besides keeping open horizons of experimental uto- the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 determines pia, in the perspective raised by Lefebvre (2001). as the responsibility of these federal entities ‘to It is important to emphasise, however, that the design and deliver, directly or by concession or per- neighbourhood plan does not only constitute an mission, the public services of local interest’ (art. 30, instrument to stake claims to governments, but its item V), a legal right obtained through decades of results and propositions also include the residents social struggles. and the neighbourhood social and cultural organisa- Convincing the municipal government to tions as their implementation agents. There are some embrace the neighbourhood plan as a legitimate propositions within the Plan, which, to be implemen- tool of demands and even urban planning is yet ted, only require actions from residents and social another challenge that residents and neighbourhood organisations, as in the case of the creation of a social organisations will have to face. In this sense, cultural and artistic circuit in the neighbourhood. two fronts are possible. One is using the neighbour- There are also propositions that involve partnerships hood plan as a claiming tool. The collective work of with governments and also with private agents, like organisation and qualification of the demands of neighbourhood merchants and funding agencies, local residents gives the neighbourhood plan the public and private. status of a powerful tool for asserting claims and In this way, we see that the neighbourhood plan rights before the municipal and state governments. exists and functions as a tool for social organisation The second front is an inclusion of the neighbour- and demands, be it in the organisation and qualification hood plan within the formal planning system of the of the demands to entities of the public administration or municipal administration. The Municipal Master Plan the organisation of collective actions to be engendered of Salvador recognises the neighbourhood plan as by the neighbourhood residents themselves. With this, part of the formal municipal urban planning system, residents reaffirm the responsibilities of governments in but for this, it needs to be submitted and approved neighbourhood improvement actions, and go beyond, by its planning body. organising their own actions towards the construction of During the elaboration of the neighbourhood autonomy and self-management, important notions to plan, we were able to accompany some difficulties carry along, on the road to the right to the city (Lefebvre in the relationship of residents and organisations 2001;Purcell 2002, 2013). with the municipal and state governments, as well The experience of 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan as important achievements. In the case of the expro- also leads us to think about the role of the university priation process where residents claim the right to in the planning process and in the construction of transparency and public participation in neighbour- alternative representations of space. This question hood reforms, the tensions between the community refers to the problematisation of the generally and State representatives were visible. Answers to neglected extension, in the face of a higher valuation these claims, when they came, were often evasive of research by ‘productivity’ indicators within the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 13 neighbourhood by contesting urban practices that neoliberal university. In counterposition to this logic, reproduce social inequalities and injustices. the extensionist can activate places of experimental 3. The regulation and institutional norms of Brazilian pub- and shared knowledge production involving univer- lic universities made a critical, epistemological and sity agents and groups of inhabitants without losing conceptual revision of the University’s role as an articu- its inherent articulation with teaching and research. It lated set of social functions. In the mid-twentieth cen- tury, social commitment, as an essential function of the is now possible to identify different experiences in University, takes shape through the concept of exten- progress involving Brazilian university research and sion, which would complete the indissociable trinomial extension groups, collectives, activists and urban of teaching-research-extension. Today, extension is social movements (e.g. Lugar Comum, Práxis, interpreted as an educational praxis in a multi-refer- Indisciplinar). These collaborative experiences are enced and intercultural world (UFBA 2010). 4. Although the recently passed Administrative oriented, explicitly or not, by the notion of inter- Restructuring Law requires District Administrations to knowledge (Santos 2007). be established in Salvador, laying out the regional Of course, we cannot ignore the conflicts between subdivision – as per the City Executive Note No 23/ common and specialised knowledge that lie in this 12, sent to the City Council in December 2012. kind of shared knowledge production. However, 5. This outline takes the following streets and reference points as the boundaries of the 2 de Julho neighbour- despite the challenges of inter-knowledge, we recog- hood: Lafayette Coutinho Avenue (Western Limit), nise the importance of extensionist experiences that Preguiça Hill (Northern Limit), Carlos Gomes Avenue have been dedicated, amongst other things, to the (Eastern Limit), and Aflitos Square (Southern Limit). elaboration of collective instruments and practices 6. We took as a reference the definition given by Federal that seek to strengthen and respond to the demands Decree No 6,135/2007, which provides for the Federal Government Unified Registry for Social Programs. This of inhabitants in situations of violation of social decree defines low-income population as the dwellers rights, in contexts of struggles and urban conflicts. of households with an overall monthly income of up to In a recurrent way, urban public administration prac- three times the minimum wage. tices are closed to citizens’ deliberation, either by an 7. In 2015, the expropriation decrees of the State explicitly authoritarian conduction or the simulacra Government were amended by Decrees 16,354 / 2015 and 16,386 / 2015, eliminating overlaps with current of institutional participation. In view of this closure, Municipal Decree in the same area. the creation of experimental and collective places of 8. City officials presented all the content of the studies inter-knowledge, of which the university participates, and the plan – covering a wide range of diverse topics can play a relevant role in the construction of alter- – in a one-off public hearing, thus precluding real native representations of space, (re)opening other content understanding by the ‘participants’. 9. The extension project for financing the plan was pre- possibilities of public action in the city by way of pared, submitted to the Ministry of Education and radical/subversive/transgressive planning. From this approved in 2013, but implementation activities only perspective, the right to the city is understood in its started the following year. most radical form, as social, economic and political 10. These municipal projects have included the restoration of urban restructuring, seeking to transfer the power to the neighbourhood traditional market, which, despite some improvements (bathrooms and less precarious produce the city into the hands of its inhabitants – conditions for the venders who were granted access to and increasingly out of those few who represent the permanent booths) has been criticised by residents and interests of capital. merchants for being poorly designed, making access to the products more difficult and a space less amenable to fluid interactions between people. 11. The Articulation of Movements and Communities of Notes Salvador’s Old Centre (Articulação dos Movimentos e 1. The process of gentrification in the 2 de Julho neighbour- Comunidades do Centro Antigo de Salvador) was hood was analysed through a survey on real-estate founded in 2014. This ‘Articulation’ includes: the appreciation in property transfer transactions and new Movement ‘Our Neighbourhood is 2 de Julho’ real-estate development advertisements in the media. (Movimento Nosso Bairro é 2 de Julho_MNB2J), Bahia’s 2. The MNB2J was formed in June of 2012 when residents Homeless Movement (Movimento dos Sem-Teto da of the 2 de Julho neighbourhood initiated actions to Bahia_MSTB), the Community of Gamboa de Baixo, the counter the ‘Santa Tereza Neighbourhood Community of Preguiça, and the artisans of Ladeira da Humanisation Project’. The Movement’s main objective Conceição da Praia. It also counts with the assistance of is to defend the right to the city within and beyond the two social movements’ advising entities: the Institute for 14 M. MANZI ET AL. the development of Social Actions (Instituto de design of public spaces [dissertation]. Uppsala: Swedish Desenvolvimento em Ações Sociais_IDEAS) and the University of Agricultural Sciences. Study Centre for Social Action (Centro de Estudos em Carlos AFA. 2004. O espaço urbano: novos escritos sobre a Ação Social_CEAS). cidade. [Urban space: new writings on the city]. São Paulo: 12. The 10 themes were: education and health; combating Contexto. inequality and social exclusion; mobility and transport; Escritório de Referência do Centro Antigo de Salvador (ERCAS), infrastructure, sanitation and the environment; hous- UNESCO. 2010. Centro Antigo de Salvador: plano de ing; public security; culture and arts; leisure and sports; reabilitação participativo [Salvador’s Old Centre: participatory public and green spaces; and, heritage preservation. rehabilitation planning]. Salvador (BA): Secretary of Culture, 13. A total of 83 properties within the neighbourhood Pedro Calmon’s Fundation. Available from: http://www.centroan were categorised as ‘urban voids’ (unused properties), tigo.ba.gov.br/arquivos/File/PlanoReabSSA.pdf. most of which being in state of ruins. Another 53 were Fernandes A. 2013. Plano de Bairro 2 de Julho [2 de Julho categorised as underutilised properties. Neighbourhood Plan]. Extension project submitted to PROEXT 14. Based on studies of Salvador Neighbourhood plans 2014. Salvador (BA): Faculdade de Arquitetura, UFBA. that were carried out in Salvador since the 2000s Fernandes A, Mourad LN, Silva HMB. 2016. La política urbana include: Nova Constituinte São Marcos, Mussurunga, en las ciudades brasileiras: gentrificando los centros? [The Baixa Fria and Baixa de Santa Rita Plans – led by the urban politics in the brasilian cities: gentrifying the centres?]. municipality –, and the Saramandaia Plan, led by FA- In: Contreras Y, Lulle T, Figuerosa O, Editors. Cambios socio- UFBA in partnership with neighbourhood residents. espaciales en las ciudades latinoamericanas: procesos de gentrificación? [Sociospatial changes in Latinamerican cities: processes of gentrification?]. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Bogota: Universidad Externado de Colombia; Pontificia Universidad Disclosure statement Católica de Chile. Faculdad de Arq; p. 389–422. Hall P. 2007. Cidades do amanhã: uma história intelectual do No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. planejamento e do projeto urbanos no século XX [Cities of tomorrow: an intellectual history of urban planning and designing in the 20th century]. São Paulo: Perspectiva. Funding Hamnett C 1991. The blind men and the elephant: the explana- The project "Plano de Bairro 2 de Julho" was supported by the tion of gentrification. Trans Inst Br Geogr. 16:173–189. Nacional Postdoctoral Program (PNPD) of the Coordination for Harvey D. 2012. Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) urban revolution. London (New York): Verso Books. [2637/2011] and by the University Extension Program (ProExt [IBGE] Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatítica [Internet]. 2014) of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Cities. 2010. Census. Brasília: Ministério do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestão. [accessed 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/ Jessop B. 2002. Liberalism, neoliberalism and urban govern- References ance: a state-theoretical perspective. Antipode. 34:452–472. Arantes O. 2000. Uma estratégia fatal: a cultura nas novas Jones P, Evans J. 2012. Rescue geography: place making, affect gestões urbanas. [A fatal strategy: culture in new urban and regeneration. Urban studies. 49.11: 2315-2330. management]. In: Arantes O, Maricato E, Vainer CB, editors. José BK. 2007. Políticas culturais e negócios urbanos: a A cidade do pensamento único: desmanchando consensos instrumentalização da cultura na revalorização do centro [The unified-thought city: dismantling consensus]. Petrópolis de São Paulo (1975-2000) [Cultural policies and urban busi- (RJ): Vozes; p. 11–73. nesses: culture’s instrumentalisation in the upgrading of São Bahia. 2013a. Decree nº 14,865/2013. Declara de utilidade pública, Paulo’s centre (1975-2000)]. São Paulo: Annablume/Fapesp. para fins de desapropriação, imóveis no Centro Antigo de Lefebvre H. 2001. O direito à cidade [The right to the city]. São Salvador [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 16]. Available from: Paulo: Centauro. http://www.legislabahia.ba.gov.br/index.php Maricato E. 2002 Oct 3. Dimensões da tragédia urbana Bahia. 2013b. Decree nº 14,868/2013. Declara de utilidade [Dimensions of the urban tragedy]. Comciencia [Internet]. pública, para fins de desapropriação, imóveis no Centro [accessed 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://comciencia. Antigo de Salvador [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 16]. br/dossies-1-2/reportagens/cidades/cid18.htm Available from: http://www.legislabahia.ba.gov.br/index.php Maricato E. 2011. Brasil, cidades: alternativas para a crise urbana Brasil. 2001. Federal Law nº 10,257/2001. Cria o Estatuto da [Brazil, cities: alternatives for the urban crisis]. 5th ed. Cidade, Regulamenta os arts. 182 e 183 da Constituição Petrópolis (RJ): Vozes. Federal e estabelece diretrizes gerais da política urbana Mitchell D. 2003. The right to the city: social justice and the [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 16]. Available from: http:// fight for public space. New York (London): Guilford Press. www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/LEIS_2001/L10257.htm Mouffe C. 2000. The democratic paradox. New York: Verso. Calderon C. 2013. Politicising participation: towards a new Mourad LN 2011. O processo de gentrificação do Centro Antigo theoretical approach to participation in the planning and de Salvador (2000 a 2010) [Salvador’s Old Centre INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 15 gentrification process (2000-2010)] [dissertation]. Salvador Santos BS. 2007. Para além do Pensamento Abissal: das linhas (BA): Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA). globais a uma ecologia de saberes [Beyond Abyssal Mourad LN, Figueiredo GC, Baltrusis N. 2014. Gentrificação no Thinking: from global lines to an ecology of knowledges]. Bairro 2 de Julho, em Salvador: modos, formas e conteúdos Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais 78: 3-46. [Gentrification of 2 de Julho Neighbourhood in Salvador: mod- Santos M. 2008. A Natureza do Espaço: técnica e Tempo, Razão alities, forms and contents]. Cadernos Metrópole. 16:437–460. e Emoção [The nature of space: technique and time, reason Purcell M. 2002. Excavating Lefebvre: the right to the city and emotion]. 4th ed. São Paulo: EDUSP. and its urban politics of the inhabitant. GeoJournal. Serpa A, editor. 2007. Cidade popular: trama de relações socio- 58:99–108. espaciais [The popular city: interweaving socio-spatial rela- Purcell M. 2013. The right to the city: the struggle for democ- tions]. Salvador (BA): EDUFBA. racy in the urban public realm. Policy & Politics. 41:311–327. Slater T. 2006. The eviction of critical perspectives from gentri- Rolnik R 2006. Por um novo lugar para os velhos centros [For a new fication research. Int J Urban Reg Res. 30:737–757. placefor theold centres].São Paulo: Vitruvius, MinhaCidade Smith N. 1987. Gentrification and the Rent Gap. Ann Assoc Am [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://www. Geogr. 77:462–465. vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/minhacidade/06.071/1945 Soja E. 1989. Postmodern geographies: the reassertion of space Rolnik R. 2011. Democracy on the edge: limits and possibilities in critical social theory. New York: Verso. in the implementation of an urban reform agenda in Brazil. Souza ML. 2010. Which right to which city? In defense of Int J Urban Reg Res. 35:239–255. political-strategic clarity. Interface. 2:315–333. Roy A. 2005. Urban informality: toward an epistemology of Swyngedouw E. 2004. Globalisation or ‘glocalisation’?Networks, planning. J Am Plann Assoc. 71:147–158. territories and rescaling. Camb Rev Int Aff. 17:25–48. Salvador. 2013. Decree nº 24,435/2013 Declara de utilidade Thrift N. 2007. Non-representational theory: space, politics, pública, para fins de desapropriação, imóveis no Centro affect. London: Routledge. Antigo de Salvador [Declares of public utility, for matters [UFBA] Universidade Federal da Bahia. 2010. Estatuto & of expropriation, real estate in the old centre of Salvador]. Regimento Geral [Statute and general regulation]. Salvador Salvador (BA): Prefeitura Municipal de Salvador [Internet]. (BA) [Internet]. [accessed 2017 Sept 02]. Available from: [accessed 2015 Apr 14]. Available from: https://leismunici https://www.ufba.br/sites/devportal.ufba.br/files/Estatuto_ pais.com.br/a2/ba/s/salvador/decreto/2013/2444/24435/ Regimento_UFBA_0.pdf decreto-n-24435-2013-declara-de-utilidade-publica-para- Vainer CB. 2002. Pátria, empresa e mercadoria: notas sobre a fins-de-desapropriacao-os-imoveis-que-indica-e-da-outras- estratégia discursiva do planejamento estratégico urbano providencias?q=24435 [Nation, enterprise and merchandise: note on the discursive Salvador. 1983. Law nº 3.289/1983 Dispõe sobre as Áreas de strategy of the urban strategic planning]. In: Arantes O, Proteção Cultural e, Paisagística de Salvador [Dispose on the Maricato E, Vainer CB, editors. A cidade do pensamento cultural and landscape protection areas of Salvador] único: desmanchando consensos [The unified-thought city: Salvador (BA): prefeitura Municipal de Salvador [Internet]. dismantling consensus]. Petrópolis (RJ): Vozes; p. 75–104. [accessed 2015 Apr 14]. Available from: https://leismunici Vainer CB, Bienenstein R, Tanaka GMM, Oliveira FL, Lobino C. 2013. pais.com.br/a2/ba/s/salvador/lei-ordinaria/1983/329/3289/ O Plano Popular da Vila Autódromo: uma experiência de pla- lei-ordinaria-n-3289-1983-altera-e-da-nova-redacao-a-disposi nejamento conflitual. [Vila Autódromo Popular Plan: a conflic- tivos-da-lei-n-2403-de-23-de-agosto-de-1972-e-da-outras- tual planning experience]. Paper presented at: XV ENANPUR providencias?q=3289. Conference, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Salvador. 2008. Law nº 7.400/2008 Dispõe sobre o Plano Diretor de Villaça F. 2005. As ilusões do Plano Diretor [The illusions of the DesenvolvimentoUrbano(PDDU)doMunicípio do Salvador municipal urban plan] [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 15]. [Dispose on the Master Plan of urban development of the “publisher unknown” [place unknown]. Available from: municipality of Salvador]. Salvador (BA): Prefeitura Municipal http://www.flaviovillaca.arq.br/pdf/ilusao_pd.pdf. de Salvador [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 14]. Available from: Watson V. 2003. Gender and political interests: taking institu- http://www.gestaopublica.salvador.ba.gov.br/leis_estruturas_ tions seriously. Paper presented at: TASA 2003 Conference; organizacionais/documentos/Lei%207.400-08.pdf. University of New England, Armidale. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Taylor & Francis

Neighbourhood planning and the right to the city: confronting neoliberal state urban practices in Salvador, Brazil

Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/neighbourhood-planning-and-the-right-to-the-city-confronting-BypAltMyFp

References (53)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
ISSN
1946-3146
eISSN
1946-3138
DOI
10.1080/19463138.2018.1433677
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 2018 VOL. 10, NO. 1, 1–15 https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2018.1433677 ARTICLE Neighbourhood planning and the right to the city: confronting neoliberal state urban practices in Salvador, Brazil a a b Maya Manzi , Glória Cecília dos Santos Figueiredo , Laila Nazem Mourad and Thaís de Miranda Rebouças Post-Graduation Program in Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture of the Federal University of Bahia (FA-UFBA), Salvador, Brazil; Post-Graduation Program in Territorial Planning and Social development, Catholic University of Salvador (UCSAL), Salvador, Brazil ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 20 June 2017 In this article, we discuss the possibilities for and challenges to the urban planning Accepted 23 January 2018 process at the neighbourhood level, from the perspective of the right to the city. We focus on the 2 de Julho, a neighbourhood located in the Old Centre of Salvador, KEYWORDS Bahia (Brazil), where processes of gentrification have pressed the local population to Brazil; gentrification; demand its own neighbourhood plan. We problematise neighbourhood planning neighbourhood planning; from the radical perspective of the right to the city, in its potential to generate a neoliberalism; urban conflicts; collaborative process that originates ‘in-conflict’ and as an instrument of negotiation participatory planning; right to the city vis-a-vis the state. We argue that neighbourhood planning not only promotes autonomy and self-management, but also contributes to making the State more accountable. In this way, it has the potential to subvert conventional urban practices that reproduce socio-spatial exclusion, inequalities and injustices whilst contesting the neoliberal logic that dispenses the state from its social responsibilities. rationale. One of the main actions is the ‘Santa 1. Introduction Teresa Cluster’, a government-supported project The purpose of this article is to discuss how neigh- designed in 2007 by the private sector for the neigh- bourhood planning can contribute to the ‘right to bourhood, where approximately 50 properties – the city’ for a population affected by gentrification including grounds, ruins and houses – were acquired processes caused by recent changes in the economy to be transformed into lofts, hostels, hotels, shops, and real-estate developers driving urban restructur- restaurants and offices. This private project was then ing. Our discussion is based on a neighbourhood reformulated by the Municipal government in 2012 planning experience in 2 de Julho, a historic neigh- under the name of ‘Santa Tereza Neighbourhood bourhood in the old centre of Salvador, Bahia (Brazil), Humanisation Project’ (Projeto de Humanização do where urban restructuring processes are taking Bairro Santa Tereza) that would not only change the shape through corporate and State actions driven name of this historic neighbourhood, but also pro- by an urban-space gentrification and privatisation foundly transform its makeup. CONTACT Maya Manzi mayamanzi@gmail.com Maria Sibylla Merian International Centre Latin America: Conviviality-Inequality. Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), Rua Morgado de Mateus, 615 - Vila Mariana, 04015-051, São Paulo (SP), Brazil This is an updated version of the article presented at the International Seminar ‘El Derecho a la Ciudad en América Latina: Transformaciones económicas y Derecho a la Ciudad’ (The Right to the City in Latin America: Economic Transformations and the Right to the City), CLACSO/ Universidad Nacional General Sarmiento, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 24th and 25th April 2015. The results of the ‘2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan’ are based on collective work by the research group Lugar Comum of the Post- Graduation Program in Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Bahia (PPGAU-FAUFBA) in collaboration with social movements and entities of the 2 de Julho neighbourhood, in Salvador (BA), Brazil. It is part of the research project ‘Bairros na metrópole: uma escala de política, de direito e de experiência’ (Neighbourhoods in the metropolis: a scale of politics, rights and experience) under the coordination of Dr. Ana Fernandes. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2 M. MANZI ET AL. In opposition to this process, different social groups, the current Municipal Master Plan 2008 (Salvador residents and visitors of 2 de Julho, have brought about 2008) for the Municipality of Salvador. The neigh- collective actions, including the request by the Our- bourhood is also part of Salvador’s Old Centre, the Neighbourhood-is-2-de-Julho Movement (Movimento boundaries of which were established by Salvador’s Nosso Bairro é 2 de Julho_MNB2J) to elaborate a Old Town Bureau of Reference (ERCAS 2010). Participatory Neighbourhood Plan. This was attended In the absence of an official demarcation of the to by the research group ‘Lugar Comum’ (Common neighbourhood boundaries, we considered – for Place) from the Faculty of Architecture of the Federal an approximate reckoning of the area’surban University of Bahia (FA-UFBA), and was initiated in characteristics – the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood January 2014 with the aim of developing a neighbour- outline defined by the 2 de Julho hood plan with propositions that would reflect local Neighbourhood Plan through interviews realised needs and demands. with 259 residents. By adopting this outline, we The possibilities and challenges that we argue this seek to advance towards a concept of participatory neighbourhood plan holds for the right Neighbourhood that neither superposes to nor is to the city are based on the planning process experi- restricted by the administrative-region boundaries. ence itself, as a University Extension Project that aims In this view, the neighbourhood is understood as to promote dialogue and collaborative work between constituted by an everyday living space, where the university and the community. This research also social neighbourhood relations occur and people builds upon the critical urban studies and urban get close to each other. Moreover, this mapping geography literatures, which discuss the right to the reflects the social diversity, customs and occupa- city from the Lefebvrian perspective, as in Mitchell tions of the people who live in and use this urban (2003), Purcell (2002, 2013), Souza (2010) and Harvey setting, based on their activities (Figure 1). (2012). In that sense, we understand a neighbourhood From this perspective, our work aims to shed as a place, which Milton Santos defines as: light on the processes and practices that enable and limit the right to the city, understood as the a framework for a pragmatic reference to the world – in residents’ right to use, access and effectively con- which solicitations and precise requests for conditioned tribute to the production of their urban space. actions intervene – but it is also the irreplaceable thea- Survey results by Mourad (2011)andMourad tre of human passions – from which stem, through the act of communication, the most diverse manifestations et al. (2014)wereusedtoanalyse thegentrifica- of spontaneity and creativity. (Santos 2008, p. 322, our tion processes in Salvador’s Old Centre, drawing translation) from and adding on to the literature on urban restructuring processes in Brazil by Arantes This understanding recalls, to some extent, a clas- (2000), Vainer (2002), Maricato (2002), Rolnik sic reference, i.e. the concept of the neighbourhood (2006)andFernandesetal. (2016), amongst unit, formulated by US sociologist, Clarence Perry. others. For this author, the neighbourhood unit relates to the allocation and location of primary education facilities, recreational areas and local shops – which 2. The 2 de Julho neighbourhood: what kind should be at walking distance from people’s homes of a place is this? (Hall 2007). Another convergent formulation is Angelo Serpa’s(2007), who sees the neighbourhood 2.1. Location ‘. . .as language and discourse [. . .] since its bound- The MunicipalityofSalvadordoesnot havean aries vary and are perceived in different ways by its official updated mapping of neighbourhood residents, who “build their own neighbourhood” as a boundaries, but 2 de Julho can be located within basis for daily strategies of individual and collective the institutional Administrative Region plan. In this action’ (p. 28). regional subdivision, the 2 de Julho Everyday practices taking place in the neighbour- Neighbourhood is part of a sub-area included in hood also engender emotional connections to the Administrative Region I – Centre, as defined by living and dwelling space. Geographers, sociologists Municipal Law No 7,400/2008 that puts into effect and urbanists have studied the affective aspects as INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3 Figure 1. ‘Localisation of 2 de Julho Neighbourhood, Salvador’s Old Centre (CAS), Salvador (BA)’. Source: based on map of Salvador (Datum: SAD 69 UTM Zona 24s) and primary research data collected in 2014–15 by 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Planning Project. an important dimension for the production of such can encourage acts of solidarity or instigate territorial places (Soja 1989; 2006; Thrift 2007; Jones and Evans conflicts that do not necessarily play out on a larger 2007). According to this approach, neighbourhoods scale. Thus, the neighbourhood can become a privi- are built by transforming such connections into peo- leged place for the realisation of the right to the city, ple’s disposition or ability to take actions. For exam- as these differentiated socio-spatial relationships ple, the feeling of belonging (or exclusion) on the increase the possibilities of appropriation of space – part of the residents towards their neighbourhood by its residents. 4 M. MANZI ET AL. 2.2. Population and income historical and cultural features, associated with Salvador’s Old Centre and the All Saints’ Bay – and According to the 2010 Census data from IBGE [The holding significant patrimonial real-estate assets. Part Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute], the 2 de of the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood is registered by the Julho neighbourhood had then a population of 5,235 UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. This residents – averaging 2.4 dwellers per household, well Neighbourhood is thus clearly distinguishable from below Bahia’s State average of 3.5. Of this total, 46% were the rest of the city, and has great symbolic signifi- men and 54% were women. As for age groups, it is to be cance. It was also declared a Strict Preservation Area noted that adults formed the majority of the population (Salvador 1983, paragraphs 107–110) as well as a (with 65% of all considered denizens in the 30–59 age Cultural and Landscape Protection Area (APCP) bracket). In terms of race, the incidence of black and (Salvador 2008, paragraphs 229–32). mixed race people was 67%. Economically, 2 de Julho is The 2 de Julho neighbourhood is situated in a privi- a predominantly low-income neighbourhood, as 62% of leged location, in terms of its connections to the muni- households have a monthly income of up to three times cipality’s street network, public transportation system the minimum wage (IBGE 2010). and shipping facilities. Its residents have relatively easy In terms of employment, 2 de Julho residents hold a access to the various services, activities and infrastruc- range of different formal and informal occupations and ture which are available in Salvador’sOld Centre. The represent a diversity of social groups: artists, students, coverage of basic sanitation and electricity services in intellectuals, foreigners, bohemians, small business own- the neighbourhood is high with 99.8% of its residences ers, the poor and the homeless. The neighbourhood having access to the city-network water supply, 98.1% stands out for holding one of the few outdoor markets to a city-sewer or runoff system connection, 99.9% to in the Old Town, for its street sellers and unpretentious regular garbage collection and 100% to the electrical shops, cultural and political events, popular bars and grid (IBGE 2010). As such, the 2 de Julho neighbour- restaurants – frequented by different generations and hood has significant urban features and a prominent social classes – lively colours and smells, and children location in the City of Salvador. The gentrification pro- playing in squares and up and down the hilly streets – cesses affecting the neighbourhood have to do with – with breath-taking views onto Salvador’s All Saints’ Bay. amongst other issues – disputes over territorial claims. Nonetheless, the continuing existence of this social diversity in the neighbourhood is at a serious risk. In recent years, the neighbourhood real-estate mar- 3. The Santa Tereza Cluster: a gentrifying ket appreciation associated with the gentrification pro- act in the 2 de Julho neighbourhood cess has become a threat to the permanence of its Several authors (e.g. Arantes 2000;Maricato 2002; historically disadvantaged population, a significant Vainer 2002;Rolnik 2006; José 2007;Mourad 2011; part of which is composed of tenants. IBGE’s2010 Fernandes et al. 2016)warn that inBrazil – especially Census data indicate that the neighbourhood had a in large cities – the redevelopment of central areas has total of 2,196 permanent households that year, most been characterised by gentrification processes, pro- of which, i.e. 71% of the considered universe, living in moting the attraction of new types of activities and apartments. Close to half of the residences (about 47%) residents, economic reinvestment, a change in image were rented, with an almost equal proportion (48%) of and meaning, environmental improvement and ‘social owned residences (IBGE 2010). cleansing’, i.e. the expulsion of poor residents from the areas of intervention (Mourad et al. 2014). A recent example of these processes is witnessed in 2.3. Urban attributes the way the 2 de Julho neighbourhood has changed, As regards institutional urban-planning provisions following the implementation of the Santa Tereza associated with the 2 de Julho neighbourhood, it Cluster. The Cluster is a project devised for the neigh- lies within the Urban-Renewal Macro Area, charac- bourhood by two developers – Eurofort Patrimonial terised by having infrastructure and utility networks and RFM Participações. In 2007, these private operators available, albeit in great need of maintenance and demarcated a 15-hectare built-up urban-fabric area refurbishing. The 2 de Julho neighbourhood is part of within this sector of Salvador’s Old Centre, partially an area appreciated for its relevant symbolic, overlapping the area declared a World Heritage Site INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 5 by UNESCO in 1985. In recent years, private investors specific area covering many popular, symbolic and have purchased approximately 50 properties – in the 2 treasured features: the Museum of Sacred Art, the de Julho Neighbourhood and surrounding areas – historic Euterpe’s Puppet Carnival Club (known as including grounds, ruins and houses, to be transformed Fantoches), the area’s topography itself – a hillside into lofts, hostels, hotels, shops, restaurants and offices with a breath-taking view of All Saints’ Bay – and 2 (Mourad 2011). de Julho square, which has been, the traditional end- For Hamnett (1991, p.175), gentrification is: ing to the Bahia Independence parade route. These unique urban elements provide the right conditions [. . .] Simultaneously a physical, economic, social and for a regeneration project to be developed within the cultural phenomenon. Gentrification commonly involves gentrification model. The historical and cultural attri- the invasion by middle-class or higher-income groups of previously working-class neighbourhoods or multi-occu- butes of the Old Centre and the All Saints’ Bay are pied “twilight areas” and the replacement or displace- thus mobilised to build an image, capable of lever- ment of many of the original occupants. It involves the aging a marketing strategy and attracting investors physical renovation or rehabilitation of what was fre- (Mourad 2011). quently a highly deteriorated housing stock and its The attempt at acquiring this particular area gen- upgrading to meet the requirements of its new owners. In the process, housing in the areas affected, both reno- erated a speculative real estate appreciation process vated and unrenovated, undergoes a significant price that threatens the permanence of 2 de Julho’s eco- appreciation. nomically weaker population. Such an appreciation is clearly revealed by the survey we carried out at the Smith (1987) explains the gentrification process through Salvador City Hall Finance Department (Sefaz) on title the rent gap (i.e. income disparity) concept, drawing on transfer transactions. It shows an acceleration of real the analysis of divestment and reinvestment data for estate property transactions in the neighbourhood, built-up areas. Gentrification thus occurs when the dis- with a progressive increase in their value. crepancy (‘gap’) between current and potential land Take for instance the 14 units making up the Row valueiswideenoughtogeneratesatisfactoryreturns adjacent to the Museum of Sacred Art: purchased for for the developers. ‘The crucial point about gentrification BRL 5,000 in July 2007, marketed for BRL 17,000 in is that it involves not only a social change but also, at the August 2007 and then resold one year later for BRL neighbourhood scale, a physical change in the housing 114,000 (each). Another piece of property – the stock and an economic change in the land and housing 4,759.17-sq-m area where the Cloc Marina market’ (p. 463). Residence has been constructed – sold for BRL Many of the aspects that characterise gentrification 380,000 in 2001, but in 2007 was purchased for BRL are featured in the implementation of the Santa Tereza 6,000,000 by developer CJ Construtora e Cluster, in the 2 de Julho neighbourhood. As Mourad Incorporadora Ltda. – thus increasing its value 15.8 notes (2011), it all begins with an economically devalued times in a 5-year period. The value of the property yet attractive centre. This combination of devaluation reflects the kind of buyer that the project intends to and attractiveness in the same area has been made attract – far more affluent than the low-income local into a business opportunity by private entrepreneurs. In population needing a place to live. This property the dilapidated, abandoned buildings, investors see mark-up also pushes local rents up (Mourad et al. favourable profit-making conditions – that is, idle real- 2014). estate capital assets characterised by low profitability, whichequatestoadevaluationofbothpublicand pri- vate built-up wealth. 5. Gentrification effects on the 2 de Julho neighbourhood According to Slater (2006), for gentrification studies 4. Economic changes in the 2 de Julho to maintain their critical perspective, it is necessary to neighbourhood: unique real estate focus not only on the roots of gentrification, but also appreciation through private appropriation on the analysis of its perverse effects; particularly, of collective territorial features with regard to the exclusion, segregation, expulsion In an intentional and sophisticated way, the Santa and eviction of the disadvantaged populations. With Tereza Cluster developers chose and marked out a this in mind, the Santa Tereza Cluster is unmistakably 6 M. MANZI ET AL. an act of gentrification that threatens the social policy goal the full development of the city and rights and permanence of the population living in urban-property social functions, through a demo- and using the Old Centre area. It becomes part of a cratic management process driven by public partici- trend to replace pauperised populations and inten- pation in the formulation, implementation and sify socio-spatial segregation through the purchase monitoring of urban development plans, pro- of inhabited buildings by private agents, institutional grammes and projects (item II of art. 2). expropriations, arbitrary evictions by public officials With regard to the purpose of the expropriations, and high rents. The Santa Tereza Cluster boundaries though they are intended – according to the afore- marked out a subdivision of the 2 de Julho neigh- mentioned state decrees – for preservation, conser- bourhood, resulting in a polarised concentration of vation and/or refurbishment of buildings, in order to resources and leading to the intensification of segre- allow for the historical, cultural and economic reha- gation and spatial and urban inequalities. bilitation of Salvador’s Old Centre, their actual desti- The real estate located next to the Museum of nation and specific use is not declared. This is a Sacred Art – an ancient row belonging to the serious issue, because there are within this area Archdiocese of Salvador – was purchased and Santa about 1,500 buildings identified as empty or under- Tereza Cluster developers began project execution utilised, although no urban-planning tool is being by evicting the population. The area, acquired to applied for them to fulfil their social functions – make way for the luxury TXAI design hotel, pre- which reveals overt property speculation under way. viously comprised 14 houses, inhabited by low- Along with the expropriation threats that are mainly income residents. Residents of Coração de Maria affecting people and families who belong to the neigh- Row (Vila Coração de Maria), on Democrata Street, bourhood’s most socially and economically disadvan- have been living under similar threats of eviction. taged groups, those deemed to be the most The St. Peter Brotherhood of Clerics – owner of the ‘disagreeable’– i.e. drug users or the homeless – have buildings – filed an act to repossess the property, already suffered the ongoing effects of gentrification. An which puts the permanence of the residents at risk intervention by Salvador Municipal officers, called ‘Order – including that of the 86-years-old tenant, Mrs. Anita in the House’, took place in November 2013 – with the Ferreira Sales, who has maintained upkeep on the support of the Military Police, the Municipal Guard and property for 45 years. Vila Coração de Maria is set in a 170 men from virtually all municipal agencies. It resulted strategic position, adjacent to the Cloc Marina in the removal of about 70 people from dilapidated Residence, which is part of the Santa Tereza Cluster. houses, and the destruction of many of the buildings More recently – in late 2013 – another issue con- they occupied. This social cleansing occurred on and cerned the area, as Salvador’s Old Centre was the target around Preguiça Hill, a historically marginalised neigh- of five decrees for the expropriation of several proper- bourhood area inhabited by low-income black families, ties for public use. The 2 de Julho Neighbourhood was also known as a hotbed of drug trafficking and charac- directly affected by three of these decrees: one by the terised by a considerable presence of homeless and municipality (Salvador 2013) that declared public use as substance-dependent people. the reason for the expropriation of 57 properties, on As a counter to this process of gentrification, a the grounds of a redevelopment project to be carried number of social groups, residents and people who out in and around the Preguiça Community; and two frequent the 2 de Julho neighbourhood promoted by the State Government (Bahia 2013a;Bahia 2013b), collective actions, amongst which was the request by affecting 24 and 67 buildings, respectively – both the Movement Our-Neighbourhood-is-2-de-Julho intended, on paper, for the historical, cultural and eco- (MNB2J) to design a Participatory Neighbourhood Plan. nomic rehabilitation of Salvador’sOld Centre. No public debate, hearing or consultation was held to present any of these redevelopment projects 6. The experience of the 2 de Julho to the public – which proves that a deficit of partici- neighbourhood planning pation exists amongst the residents of the Old Centre 6.1. Neighbourhood plans areas who would be directly affected by the decrees. This attitude ignores the general guidelines of the Urban planning at the municipal level – commonly City Statute (Brasil 2001), which set as an urban known for the resulting Municipal Master Plans INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 7 (Planos Diretores) – has been heavily criticised in the existing limitations in the Municipal Master Plan Brazil, for failing to contribute to reducing urban preparation and implementation process, especially and socio-territorial inequalities and exclusion in with regard to technical and political confrontations Brazilian cities. Municipal Master Plans are blamed that come up locally. This is a process that for mostly responding favourably to the demands Vainer et al. call Conflict-Based Planning, ‘which of capitalist groups in urban production, whilst ignor- wagers on the ability of conflict-related processes to ing – at least in their implementation – the demands constitute collective subjects capable of occupying of the historically marginalised populations, who the public scene in an autonomous way’ (2013, p. 17, have been fighting for social and territorial justice our translation). Thus, urban planning, highly criti- for decades. Even after the City Statute was cised for its ideological weight and ineffectiveness, approved, in 2001 – establishing democratic man- is used here as a tool to address the conflict. agement as a structural element in urban policy It is understood, in this case, that the best place design and requiring citizens’ participation at all for the practice of participatory urban planning – levels of public policy decision-making – recent which addresses the right to the city – is where urban planning and management experiences have daily life and living physically occur: the neighbour- shown that little progress has been made in its hood, thus acknowledged as a space to be appro- implementation. priated (Carlos 2004). The neighbourhood is also a Some authors (e.g. Villaça 2005; Maricato 2011; territory where the right to the city can be made Rolnik 2011) highlight important factors that contri- factual, for being a ‘glocalised’ place (Swyngedouw bute to the ineffectiveness and lack of credibility of 2004), where local living intersects with social and municipal urban planning. Amongst such factors is economic processes of a different scale – substan- the inability of city administrators to implement tiated in the form of local contradictions, conflicts Municipal Master Plans, which, as noted by Villaça and potential. (2005, p. 90) ‘stems from the chasm between their In our view, thus, participatory neighbourhood discourse and our municipality’s administration prac- planning – bringing residents to front stage – allows tices, and from the inequality that characterises our for greater local involvement in the discussions dur- political and economic reality’. According to Maricato ing the drafting process. It also allows for deeper (2011), top-down urban planning – as done in cur- discussions, thus opening the possibility of incorpor- rent practices – cannot integrate the conflicts inher- ating existing conflicts between different social ent in society and the disputes between its different groups, active either within the neighbourhood or actors. Existing social conflicts are usually not con- on other levels. Consequently, this is also a way to sidered in Municipal Master Plans, which refer to better understand how the subjects involved are unimpeded and peaceful scenarios. benefited or harmed by the on-going local processes The experience of public discussions on Salvador’s – as well as how and why this occurs. Municipal Master Plan, throughout 2007, revealed how difficult it is to mobilise the population – and 6.2. 2 de Julho neighbourhood planning ensure effective popular participation in the debate on where to head in city planning. The main criti- The proposal for the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan cisms of the process referred to the difficulty of arose following collective actions by the neighbour- access to the technical studies supporting the plan hood’s social groups, residents and people who frequent and the chosen methodology for participation, in or inhabit the area. They try to respond to strong urban- addition to the lack of incorporation of new content space privatisation trends, and uphold their demands – or criticisms and suggestions for changes into the clustered around neighbourhood improvements and plan. Consistent low public attendance was also a the defence of local people’s rights. Such demands feature of this process, as very few people would included the elaboration of a ‘popular’ Neighbourhood usually show up at public hearings, generally due Plan that the MNB2J had started drafting, but soon had to insufficient dissemination or inappropriate to abandon due to lack of resources. Neighbourhood schedules. planning was later made possible through a FA-UFBA In this context, the Neighbourhood Plan came extension project, in January 2014. This experience thus about as a way to potentially overcome some of shows the possibilities and challenges that 8 M. MANZI ET AL. neighbourhood planning offers as a local collaborative project between the university and the neighbourhood residents, independent of State or private interests. In this view, the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan aims towards the expansion and systematisation of knowledge about the neighbourhood, the political strengthening and technical training of the people involved, and towards the collective construction of guidelines for its full development – be it under a social, cultural, economic, political or environ- mental perspective. The process of developing a Neighbourhood Plan represents a possibility of mediating a different kind of territorial pact. This brings about the opportunity for the collective Figure 2. ‘Dreams, Propositions and Projects Workshop in 2 de Julho, construction of strategies, to knit together such Salvador, 2014’. The second workshop focused on the dreams, proposals issues as public spaces, social diversity, technical and projects of residents, state and private initiative, for the neighbour- hood. A large map was used for the residents to locate their dreams and and social infrastructure, community facilities, ade- propositions for the neighbourhood, identifying also their agents. This quate housing and integration with city life, in workshop was held in the neighbourhood public state college ‘Colégio order to articulate the many activities, uses and Estadual Ypiranga’ on 26 April 2014. Photo by Camila Brandão. occupations that define such space (Fernandes 2013). neighbourhood’s public and commercial establish- The reflections on the possibilities and challenges ments over more than a year’speriod. for the right to the city through the 2 de Julho The most concerning issues for the participants Neighbourhood Plan date back to when it was con- were: public insecurity, which residents directly ceived, in 2013, as the associated UFBA extension pro- related to a high crime rate; infrastructural problems, ject was being prepared. In the first year of plan especially improper sewage and water canalisation ,9 implementation advancements were made in system- system that was related to increasing outbreaks of atising and expanding neighbourhood knowledge, and vector-born diseases such as dengue, zika and chi- in strengthening the political and technical capacity of kungunha; the lack of green areas and increasing the organisations and social movements involved. This depredatory practices of the municipality towards was done through the collection of primary-data (from the few remaining trees found in the city centre to questionnaires, technical field visits, workshops and make space for their reform projects ; and the need meetings with neighbourhood leaders and residents) to protect the most disadvantaged groups from the and secondary-data (from academic production, tech- perverse effects of the gentrification process, nical reports and records of public administrative amongst other matters. offices), as well as through a process of social mobilisa- The participation of various groups and represen- tion that involved the production of virtual and physi- tatives from different segments of the local popula- cal informative material (e.g. blog, banners, flyers, tion was essential to the collective construction of folders, videos). Aside from surveying local potentials, the neighbourhood plan drafting process. As several problems and material needs (i.e. access to and authors point out (Mouffe 2000; Watson 2003; improvement of goods and services), some of such Calderon 2013), it is important not to pursue the activities were designed to retrieve and encourage need for consensus in discussions and collective deci- emotional memories and collective dreaming of the sion-making – as understanding unequal power rela- neighbourhood. The plan also involved the collective tions and accommodating conflicts and disputes are construction of guidelines and proposals during work- essential and constructive for the participation pro- shops with residents that were held in different parts of cess. Thus, the Neighbourhood Plan team was the neighbourhood and at different times along the responsible for identifying, discussing and dissemi- process (Figure 2). Propositions were also collected nating opinions and divergent proposals, contribut- during interviews with 174 residents and in ‘dream ing – whenever possible – to building covenants boxes’ that circulated in some of the key INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 9 relating to these conflicts and differences – whilst the community residents prompting them to emer- considering the actual possibility that such an under- gently evacuate their houses alleging that these were standing may never come to be. Therefore, following also under risk of collapse. In response to such unjus- Vainer et al. (2013), the Neighbourhood Plan – out- tified drastic measures, joined action between the side being a tool of vindication – also aimed to serve Neighbourhood Plan team, the Articulation of Social the population as a tool for the full disclosure and Movements and Communities of Salvador's Old management of conflicts. Centre and the residents of the Preguiça commu- A concern that permeated the 2 de Julho experi- nity led to the formulation of a technical report that ence and constituted a major challenge throughout made evident the inadequacy of such measures for its development was the difficulty in mobilising the the majority of the houses under notice and pointed population, in order to ensure effective local partici- to the urgent need of restoration of two houses on pation during the whole planning process. The rea- the Preguiça Hill that were under imminent risk of sons for this difficulty were of different orders, many collapse. These reports were then used in meetings of which corresponded to Calderon’s(2013) case with State representatives to uphold these demands. studies’ observations, e.g. the inability to maintain This three-year process of collaborative neighbour- an ongoing dialogue with the community and hood planning resulted in the construction of 43 pro- involve it in all the activities of the Neighbourhood positions grouped in 10 different themes. For each Plan; the difficulty of dialoguing with the variety of proposition was identified the proposed place of inter- groups and social segments found in the neighbour- vention, the responsible agents, the potential benefici- hood; the fact that many individuals were unwilling aries and the modes of action to implement them. Most to participate in public-interest discussions; a disbe- propositions (21%) were localised in the Preguiça area, lief in urban planning on record for historically not the most disadvantaged and marginalized sector of the being implemented; a tendency for groups or indivi- neighbourhood. Almost half of them (48%) had the duals to take on leadership behaviours in debates, State as the main responsible agent for implementa- inhibiting the participation of others; and, a lack of tion and 22% of the demands indicated an articulation competence and professional knowledge on how to between the community and the responsible govern- include local people in the planning process. mental institutions as a preferred mode of action. The Within this perspective, collective actions were taken propositions included the creation of green spaces and along the planning process as conflicts related to the recreational areas for kids and elders; the planting of right to the city arose within the neighbourhood. For trees throughout the neighbourhood; the creation of example, one of the major conflicts of interest that urban gardens; the demand for social housing to emerged at the outset of the planning process was the ensure the permanence of low-income residents; the publication of state and municipal expropriation decrees creation of a day-care; and a special care centre for (mentioned above), which threatened the permanence homeless and substance-dependent people using of the most disadvantaged part of the neighbourhood vacant/underutilised land, amongst other matters. population. In response, the Neighbourhood Plan team In its final form – as a written technical report and a and the MNB2J joined forces to inform the local popula- community folder – the Neighbourhood Plan is meant tion about their rights and pressurise the municipal and to serve as an instrument for the residents to uphold state governments through judicial representation at the their demands towards the State and as a guide for Public Ministry and the convening of meetings with community action and self-management. At the government representatives asking for justification of moment of writing this article, the Neighbourhood such measures and demanding for the protection of Plan was at its final stage, being prepared for the pre- people’s rights; especially, their rights to decent housing, sentation of the final results to the community. transparent information and participation as stated in the Brazilian Constitution and City Statute (Figure 3). 7. Possibilities and challenges to the right to In May 2015, another of such conflicts arose fol- the city in neighbourhood planning lowing the death of one resident of the Preguiça community caused by the collapse of colonial houses The 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan has been built left abandoned for real-estate speculation. Soon within the Lefebvrian perspective of the right to the after, government agents sent a notice to many of city, as in works by Purcell (2002, 2013), Mitchell 10 M. MANZI ET AL. Figure 3. ‘2 de Julho Residences under Municipal and State Expropriation Decrees, Salvador, 2016’. Note: based on a map elaborated by the 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Planning Project in 2016 to inform residents about the expropriation process. The map was part of a leaflet that contained information about the rights of owners, renters and squatters and potential ways to mobilise them. The material was disseminated through door-to-door actions, workshops, websites and local meetings. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 11 (2003), Souza (2010) and Harvey (2012). In this per- mediated by the State, at the expense of more spective, we understand the right to the city as the autonomous and self-managed radical actions. right to appropriate urban spaces, not only in the Dealing with such a state of affairs, to be over- sense of being able to access and use all of the come in an extremely unequal society filled with different spaces and services that the city can offer, such immediate and pressing needs does not mean but also, and more importantly, in the sense of being abandoning the utopian horizons raised by the actively involved in the production the city – by Lefebvrian perspective. That is why, in urban reform, having the freedom to reinvent ourselves and the effective commitment to a strategy for establishing city (Harvey 2012). Thus, ‘right’ is understood here the right to the city should have a revolutionary as a collective right that goes beyond institutional character. As stated by Henri Lefebvre: and national legality, favouring non-capitalist forms From issues regarding land ownership to segregation, of socio-spatial interactions and prioritising the use- each urban renovation project calls into question not value (instead of the exchange-value) of space to only the structures of the existing society and daily enhance all aspects of human life in the city. (individual) relationships, but also those intended to Although agreeing with Lefebvre on the need to be forcefully and institutionally imposed on what remains of the existing urban reality. Reformist by nat- gain autonomy towards the State through innovative ure, an urban-reform strategy “necessarily” becomes forms of self-management, we are aware that these revolutionary, not by the force of things, but by being practices can serve the interest of the neoliberal state against what has been established. (Lefebvre 2001,p. as the responsibility to provide basic public-interest 113, our emphasis) policies, programs and services is increasingly put into the hands of unpaid ‘voluntary’ citizens (Jessop With regard to the effective participation of local 2002; Roy 2005). residents and organisations in the Neighbourhood Neighbourhood plans as organising tools for local Planning activities, especially as to the representation demands and vindications on public authority have of the different social groups existing in the neigh- resulted – mainly – in urban plans that aim to bourhood, we understand that popular participation overcome precarious urban and space-regulation is a long-term process that does not merely depend conditions. Consequently, such plans contribute to on the efforts invested by an organizing team – but substantiating the claims – and the process itself of also reflects both historical and circumstantial socio- participating in decision-making as regards the fate political, cultural and economic processes. These pro- of our cities, albeit this participation still requires cesses are conditioned and structured by unequal intercession on the part of the State, and thus cannot power relations that need to be acknowledged, reach the autonomy and self-governance advocated made explicit and faced as an inescapable part of by Lefebvre (2001) and Souza (2010). In fact, the vast the participatory process. Although these power majority of inhabitants of Latin American countries dynamics cannot be ignored, they certainly can be are still in need of basic services and infrastructure to openly contested by a participatory conflict-based be provided or improved (basic sanitation systems planning process, in ways that can begin to subvert and networks, other utilities and well-located, quality or reconfigure them . This approach stands in sharp housing). The level of instability in our cities still contrast to the institutionalised planning strategies forces us to organise our more urgent claims and like those headed by the State. Their pro-form and submit them to public administrators, who bear the liberal logic built upon an a-priori concept of equality responsibility of providing these constitutional rights. create an illusionary democratic context that only Purcell (2002, 2013) makes a provocative and helps to invisibilise – and thus perpetuate – existing quite relevant observation for a revised right to the social asymmetries. city, noting that US levels of urban blight are largely Therefore, we contend that the most intense lower than Latin America’s. In the Brazilian experi- debates occurring in the elaboration of a ence, as well as in the 2 de Julho Plan, a whole set of Neighbourhood Plan also strengthen the right to urgent needs are still related to ensuring survival the city, as they arise at the local level – where the conditions and access to basic social rights, or to processes, relationships and interests of groups oper- the possibility itself for residents to remain in the ating at various levels converge, intersect and collide. city centre. These come as a priority and are largely As we have argued, the most socially and politically 12 M. MANZI ET AL. significant issues are put under the spotlight pre- and never conclusive. In terms of achievements, after cisely in the midst of conflicts, and whenever counter intense participation of the residents in public dis- positions are expressed – thus serving as guidelines cussions for the preparation of the Municipal Master for proposals that can (re)define the course of urban Plan in 2016, a demarcation was conquered as a development, towards more socially just and eman- Zone of Special Social Interest (ZEIS), in the Vila cipatory goals. Coração de Maria, which is part of the neighbour- The neighbourhood plan can serve as an urban hood. This achievement, within the field of municipal planning tool that takes the right to the city closer to urban planning, formalised the right of residence for being accomplished, with the goal of reversing State the inhabitants of Vila Coração de Maria in the face of practices that (re)produce socio-spatial inequalities eviction threats by the property owner. These facts, and socio-environmental injustices. It can be used even though they do not equate to the enforcement as an instrument for making the State more accoun- of the corresponding social and collective rights, may table, challenging the neoliberal logic and reinstating help give visibility to groups of historically margin- government bodies’ role in providing the social wel- alized inhabitants, and to difficult, at least in some fare policies and services they have responsibility levels, the absolute dominion of hegemonic agents, over. This notably concerns City Administration, as besides keeping open horizons of experimental uto- the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 determines pia, in the perspective raised by Lefebvre (2001). as the responsibility of these federal entities ‘to It is important to emphasise, however, that the design and deliver, directly or by concession or per- neighbourhood plan does not only constitute an mission, the public services of local interest’ (art. 30, instrument to stake claims to governments, but its item V), a legal right obtained through decades of results and propositions also include the residents social struggles. and the neighbourhood social and cultural organisa- Convincing the municipal government to tions as their implementation agents. There are some embrace the neighbourhood plan as a legitimate propositions within the Plan, which, to be implemen- tool of demands and even urban planning is yet ted, only require actions from residents and social another challenge that residents and neighbourhood organisations, as in the case of the creation of a social organisations will have to face. In this sense, cultural and artistic circuit in the neighbourhood. two fronts are possible. One is using the neighbour- There are also propositions that involve partnerships hood plan as a claiming tool. The collective work of with governments and also with private agents, like organisation and qualification of the demands of neighbourhood merchants and funding agencies, local residents gives the neighbourhood plan the public and private. status of a powerful tool for asserting claims and In this way, we see that the neighbourhood plan rights before the municipal and state governments. exists and functions as a tool for social organisation The second front is an inclusion of the neighbour- and demands, be it in the organisation and qualification hood plan within the formal planning system of the of the demands to entities of the public administration or municipal administration. The Municipal Master Plan the organisation of collective actions to be engendered of Salvador recognises the neighbourhood plan as by the neighbourhood residents themselves. With this, part of the formal municipal urban planning system, residents reaffirm the responsibilities of governments in but for this, it needs to be submitted and approved neighbourhood improvement actions, and go beyond, by its planning body. organising their own actions towards the construction of During the elaboration of the neighbourhood autonomy and self-management, important notions to plan, we were able to accompany some difficulties carry along, on the road to the right to the city (Lefebvre in the relationship of residents and organisations 2001;Purcell 2002, 2013). with the municipal and state governments, as well The experience of 2 de Julho Neighbourhood Plan as important achievements. In the case of the expro- also leads us to think about the role of the university priation process where residents claim the right to in the planning process and in the construction of transparency and public participation in neighbour- alternative representations of space. This question hood reforms, the tensions between the community refers to the problematisation of the generally and State representatives were visible. Answers to neglected extension, in the face of a higher valuation these claims, when they came, were often evasive of research by ‘productivity’ indicators within the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 13 neighbourhood by contesting urban practices that neoliberal university. In counterposition to this logic, reproduce social inequalities and injustices. the extensionist can activate places of experimental 3. The regulation and institutional norms of Brazilian pub- and shared knowledge production involving univer- lic universities made a critical, epistemological and sity agents and groups of inhabitants without losing conceptual revision of the University’s role as an articu- its inherent articulation with teaching and research. It lated set of social functions. In the mid-twentieth cen- tury, social commitment, as an essential function of the is now possible to identify different experiences in University, takes shape through the concept of exten- progress involving Brazilian university research and sion, which would complete the indissociable trinomial extension groups, collectives, activists and urban of teaching-research-extension. Today, extension is social movements (e.g. Lugar Comum, Práxis, interpreted as an educational praxis in a multi-refer- Indisciplinar). These collaborative experiences are enced and intercultural world (UFBA 2010). 4. Although the recently passed Administrative oriented, explicitly or not, by the notion of inter- Restructuring Law requires District Administrations to knowledge (Santos 2007). be established in Salvador, laying out the regional Of course, we cannot ignore the conflicts between subdivision – as per the City Executive Note No 23/ common and specialised knowledge that lie in this 12, sent to the City Council in December 2012. kind of shared knowledge production. However, 5. This outline takes the following streets and reference points as the boundaries of the 2 de Julho neighbour- despite the challenges of inter-knowledge, we recog- hood: Lafayette Coutinho Avenue (Western Limit), nise the importance of extensionist experiences that Preguiça Hill (Northern Limit), Carlos Gomes Avenue have been dedicated, amongst other things, to the (Eastern Limit), and Aflitos Square (Southern Limit). elaboration of collective instruments and practices 6. We took as a reference the definition given by Federal that seek to strengthen and respond to the demands Decree No 6,135/2007, which provides for the Federal Government Unified Registry for Social Programs. This of inhabitants in situations of violation of social decree defines low-income population as the dwellers rights, in contexts of struggles and urban conflicts. of households with an overall monthly income of up to In a recurrent way, urban public administration prac- three times the minimum wage. tices are closed to citizens’ deliberation, either by an 7. In 2015, the expropriation decrees of the State explicitly authoritarian conduction or the simulacra Government were amended by Decrees 16,354 / 2015 and 16,386 / 2015, eliminating overlaps with current of institutional participation. In view of this closure, Municipal Decree in the same area. the creation of experimental and collective places of 8. City officials presented all the content of the studies inter-knowledge, of which the university participates, and the plan – covering a wide range of diverse topics can play a relevant role in the construction of alter- – in a one-off public hearing, thus precluding real native representations of space, (re)opening other content understanding by the ‘participants’. 9. The extension project for financing the plan was pre- possibilities of public action in the city by way of pared, submitted to the Ministry of Education and radical/subversive/transgressive planning. From this approved in 2013, but implementation activities only perspective, the right to the city is understood in its started the following year. most radical form, as social, economic and political 10. These municipal projects have included the restoration of urban restructuring, seeking to transfer the power to the neighbourhood traditional market, which, despite some improvements (bathrooms and less precarious produce the city into the hands of its inhabitants – conditions for the venders who were granted access to and increasingly out of those few who represent the permanent booths) has been criticised by residents and interests of capital. merchants for being poorly designed, making access to the products more difficult and a space less amenable to fluid interactions between people. 11. The Articulation of Movements and Communities of Notes Salvador’s Old Centre (Articulação dos Movimentos e 1. The process of gentrification in the 2 de Julho neighbour- Comunidades do Centro Antigo de Salvador) was hood was analysed through a survey on real-estate founded in 2014. This ‘Articulation’ includes: the appreciation in property transfer transactions and new Movement ‘Our Neighbourhood is 2 de Julho’ real-estate development advertisements in the media. (Movimento Nosso Bairro é 2 de Julho_MNB2J), Bahia’s 2. The MNB2J was formed in June of 2012 when residents Homeless Movement (Movimento dos Sem-Teto da of the 2 de Julho neighbourhood initiated actions to Bahia_MSTB), the Community of Gamboa de Baixo, the counter the ‘Santa Tereza Neighbourhood Community of Preguiça, and the artisans of Ladeira da Humanisation Project’. The Movement’s main objective Conceição da Praia. It also counts with the assistance of is to defend the right to the city within and beyond the two social movements’ advising entities: the Institute for 14 M. MANZI ET AL. the development of Social Actions (Instituto de design of public spaces [dissertation]. Uppsala: Swedish Desenvolvimento em Ações Sociais_IDEAS) and the University of Agricultural Sciences. Study Centre for Social Action (Centro de Estudos em Carlos AFA. 2004. O espaço urbano: novos escritos sobre a Ação Social_CEAS). cidade. [Urban space: new writings on the city]. São Paulo: 12. The 10 themes were: education and health; combating Contexto. inequality and social exclusion; mobility and transport; Escritório de Referência do Centro Antigo de Salvador (ERCAS), infrastructure, sanitation and the environment; hous- UNESCO. 2010. Centro Antigo de Salvador: plano de ing; public security; culture and arts; leisure and sports; reabilitação participativo [Salvador’s Old Centre: participatory public and green spaces; and, heritage preservation. rehabilitation planning]. Salvador (BA): Secretary of Culture, 13. A total of 83 properties within the neighbourhood Pedro Calmon’s Fundation. Available from: http://www.centroan were categorised as ‘urban voids’ (unused properties), tigo.ba.gov.br/arquivos/File/PlanoReabSSA.pdf. most of which being in state of ruins. Another 53 were Fernandes A. 2013. Plano de Bairro 2 de Julho [2 de Julho categorised as underutilised properties. Neighbourhood Plan]. Extension project submitted to PROEXT 14. Based on studies of Salvador Neighbourhood plans 2014. Salvador (BA): Faculdade de Arquitetura, UFBA. that were carried out in Salvador since the 2000s Fernandes A, Mourad LN, Silva HMB. 2016. La política urbana include: Nova Constituinte São Marcos, Mussurunga, en las ciudades brasileiras: gentrificando los centros? [The Baixa Fria and Baixa de Santa Rita Plans – led by the urban politics in the brasilian cities: gentrifying the centres?]. municipality –, and the Saramandaia Plan, led by FA- In: Contreras Y, Lulle T, Figuerosa O, Editors. Cambios socio- UFBA in partnership with neighbourhood residents. espaciales en las ciudades latinoamericanas: procesos de gentrificación? [Sociospatial changes in Latinamerican cities: processes of gentrification?]. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Bogota: Universidad Externado de Colombia; Pontificia Universidad Disclosure statement Católica de Chile. Faculdad de Arq; p. 389–422. Hall P. 2007. Cidades do amanhã: uma história intelectual do No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. planejamento e do projeto urbanos no século XX [Cities of tomorrow: an intellectual history of urban planning and designing in the 20th century]. São Paulo: Perspectiva. Funding Hamnett C 1991. The blind men and the elephant: the explana- The project "Plano de Bairro 2 de Julho" was supported by the tion of gentrification. Trans Inst Br Geogr. 16:173–189. Nacional Postdoctoral Program (PNPD) of the Coordination for Harvey D. 2012. Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) urban revolution. London (New York): Verso Books. [2637/2011] and by the University Extension Program (ProExt [IBGE] Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatítica [Internet]. 2014) of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Cities. 2010. Census. Brasília: Ministério do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestão. [accessed 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/ Jessop B. 2002. Liberalism, neoliberalism and urban govern- References ance: a state-theoretical perspective. Antipode. 34:452–472. Arantes O. 2000. Uma estratégia fatal: a cultura nas novas Jones P, Evans J. 2012. Rescue geography: place making, affect gestões urbanas. [A fatal strategy: culture in new urban and regeneration. Urban studies. 49.11: 2315-2330. management]. In: Arantes O, Maricato E, Vainer CB, editors. José BK. 2007. Políticas culturais e negócios urbanos: a A cidade do pensamento único: desmanchando consensos instrumentalização da cultura na revalorização do centro [The unified-thought city: dismantling consensus]. Petrópolis de São Paulo (1975-2000) [Cultural policies and urban busi- (RJ): Vozes; p. 11–73. nesses: culture’s instrumentalisation in the upgrading of São Bahia. 2013a. Decree nº 14,865/2013. Declara de utilidade pública, Paulo’s centre (1975-2000)]. São Paulo: Annablume/Fapesp. para fins de desapropriação, imóveis no Centro Antigo de Lefebvre H. 2001. O direito à cidade [The right to the city]. São Salvador [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 16]. Available from: Paulo: Centauro. http://www.legislabahia.ba.gov.br/index.php Maricato E. 2002 Oct 3. Dimensões da tragédia urbana Bahia. 2013b. Decree nº 14,868/2013. Declara de utilidade [Dimensions of the urban tragedy]. Comciencia [Internet]. pública, para fins de desapropriação, imóveis no Centro [accessed 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://comciencia. Antigo de Salvador [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 16]. br/dossies-1-2/reportagens/cidades/cid18.htm Available from: http://www.legislabahia.ba.gov.br/index.php Maricato E. 2011. Brasil, cidades: alternativas para a crise urbana Brasil. 2001. Federal Law nº 10,257/2001. Cria o Estatuto da [Brazil, cities: alternatives for the urban crisis]. 5th ed. Cidade, Regulamenta os arts. 182 e 183 da Constituição Petrópolis (RJ): Vozes. Federal e estabelece diretrizes gerais da política urbana Mitchell D. 2003. The right to the city: social justice and the [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 16]. Available from: http:// fight for public space. New York (London): Guilford Press. www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/LEIS_2001/L10257.htm Mouffe C. 2000. The democratic paradox. New York: Verso. Calderon C. 2013. Politicising participation: towards a new Mourad LN 2011. O processo de gentrificação do Centro Antigo theoretical approach to participation in the planning and de Salvador (2000 a 2010) [Salvador’s Old Centre INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 15 gentrification process (2000-2010)] [dissertation]. Salvador Santos BS. 2007. Para além do Pensamento Abissal: das linhas (BA): Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA). globais a uma ecologia de saberes [Beyond Abyssal Mourad LN, Figueiredo GC, Baltrusis N. 2014. Gentrificação no Thinking: from global lines to an ecology of knowledges]. Bairro 2 de Julho, em Salvador: modos, formas e conteúdos Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais 78: 3-46. [Gentrification of 2 de Julho Neighbourhood in Salvador: mod- Santos M. 2008. A Natureza do Espaço: técnica e Tempo, Razão alities, forms and contents]. Cadernos Metrópole. 16:437–460. e Emoção [The nature of space: technique and time, reason Purcell M. 2002. Excavating Lefebvre: the right to the city and emotion]. 4th ed. São Paulo: EDUSP. and its urban politics of the inhabitant. GeoJournal. Serpa A, editor. 2007. Cidade popular: trama de relações socio- 58:99–108. espaciais [The popular city: interweaving socio-spatial rela- Purcell M. 2013. The right to the city: the struggle for democ- tions]. Salvador (BA): EDUFBA. racy in the urban public realm. Policy & Politics. 41:311–327. Slater T. 2006. The eviction of critical perspectives from gentri- Rolnik R 2006. Por um novo lugar para os velhos centros [For a new fication research. Int J Urban Reg Res. 30:737–757. placefor theold centres].São Paulo: Vitruvius, MinhaCidade Smith N. 1987. Gentrification and the Rent Gap. Ann Assoc Am [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://www. Geogr. 77:462–465. vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/minhacidade/06.071/1945 Soja E. 1989. Postmodern geographies: the reassertion of space Rolnik R. 2011. Democracy on the edge: limits and possibilities in critical social theory. New York: Verso. in the implementation of an urban reform agenda in Brazil. Souza ML. 2010. Which right to which city? In defense of Int J Urban Reg Res. 35:239–255. political-strategic clarity. Interface. 2:315–333. Roy A. 2005. Urban informality: toward an epistemology of Swyngedouw E. 2004. Globalisation or ‘glocalisation’?Networks, planning. J Am Plann Assoc. 71:147–158. territories and rescaling. Camb Rev Int Aff. 17:25–48. Salvador. 2013. Decree nº 24,435/2013 Declara de utilidade Thrift N. 2007. Non-representational theory: space, politics, pública, para fins de desapropriação, imóveis no Centro affect. London: Routledge. Antigo de Salvador [Declares of public utility, for matters [UFBA] Universidade Federal da Bahia. 2010. Estatuto & of expropriation, real estate in the old centre of Salvador]. Regimento Geral [Statute and general regulation]. Salvador Salvador (BA): Prefeitura Municipal de Salvador [Internet]. (BA) [Internet]. [accessed 2017 Sept 02]. Available from: [accessed 2015 Apr 14]. Available from: https://leismunici https://www.ufba.br/sites/devportal.ufba.br/files/Estatuto_ pais.com.br/a2/ba/s/salvador/decreto/2013/2444/24435/ Regimento_UFBA_0.pdf decreto-n-24435-2013-declara-de-utilidade-publica-para- Vainer CB. 2002. Pátria, empresa e mercadoria: notas sobre a fins-de-desapropriacao-os-imoveis-que-indica-e-da-outras- estratégia discursiva do planejamento estratégico urbano providencias?q=24435 [Nation, enterprise and merchandise: note on the discursive Salvador. 1983. Law nº 3.289/1983 Dispõe sobre as Áreas de strategy of the urban strategic planning]. In: Arantes O, Proteção Cultural e, Paisagística de Salvador [Dispose on the Maricato E, Vainer CB, editors. A cidade do pensamento cultural and landscape protection areas of Salvador] único: desmanchando consensos [The unified-thought city: Salvador (BA): prefeitura Municipal de Salvador [Internet]. dismantling consensus]. Petrópolis (RJ): Vozes; p. 75–104. [accessed 2015 Apr 14]. Available from: https://leismunici Vainer CB, Bienenstein R, Tanaka GMM, Oliveira FL, Lobino C. 2013. pais.com.br/a2/ba/s/salvador/lei-ordinaria/1983/329/3289/ O Plano Popular da Vila Autódromo: uma experiência de pla- lei-ordinaria-n-3289-1983-altera-e-da-nova-redacao-a-disposi nejamento conflitual. [Vila Autódromo Popular Plan: a conflic- tivos-da-lei-n-2403-de-23-de-agosto-de-1972-e-da-outras- tual planning experience]. Paper presented at: XV ENANPUR providencias?q=3289. Conference, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife. Salvador. 2008. Law nº 7.400/2008 Dispõe sobre o Plano Diretor de Villaça F. 2005. As ilusões do Plano Diretor [The illusions of the DesenvolvimentoUrbano(PDDU)doMunicípio do Salvador municipal urban plan] [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 15]. [Dispose on the Master Plan of urban development of the “publisher unknown” [place unknown]. Available from: municipality of Salvador]. Salvador (BA): Prefeitura Municipal http://www.flaviovillaca.arq.br/pdf/ilusao_pd.pdf. de Salvador [Internet]. [accessed 2015 Apr 14]. Available from: Watson V. 2003. Gender and political interests: taking institu- http://www.gestaopublica.salvador.ba.gov.br/leis_estruturas_ tions seriously. Paper presented at: TASA 2003 Conference; organizacionais/documentos/Lei%207.400-08.pdf. University of New England, Armidale.

Journal

International Journal of Urban Sustainable DevelopmentTaylor & Francis

Published: Jan 2, 2018

Keywords: Brazil; gentrification; neighbourhood planning; neoliberalism; urban conflicts; participatory planning; right to the city

There are no references for this article.