Municipalism and the privatization of urban management: A study of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte

Abstract

This article aims to discuss how the processes of neoliberalization are present in ur-ban-municipal management. These processes can be observed in the privatization of spaces and in the management models implemented, mainly from the 1990s, when closed condominiums stood out in the real estate market. In the text, general concepts related to these processes and their impacts on city governance are presented. Throughout the discussion, the concepts are analyzed in the context of citizenship and the peculiarities of Brazilian municipalist federalism. Finally, it is discussed whether or not decentralization favored neoliberal policies within the scope of municipal management, as well as in the proposals for popular participation listed by the right to the city traced after the 1988 Constitution. The text, when analyzing municipalism and the privatization of urban management, exemplifies the discussion with cases in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte.