Occupational therapy and right to the city

Abstract

This essay aims to reflect on Occupational Therapy in guaranteeing the “right to the city” as a fundamental human and social right, directly involved in human occupations. We started this debate with collective occupations as determinants in the construction of the social space of cities. Then, we focus on the asymmetries of power and territorial inequalities, fruits of the commercialization of urban property, which imply injustices and deprivations in occupational involvement in the subject's daily lives. We summarize theoretical and methodological possibilities, new and others already, that we bring to the field of urban studies and public urbanization policies. We defend that Occupational Therapy is an area of significant contributions to the defense and guarantee of the right to the city.