Deathscapes in Latin America's metropolises: Urban land use, funerary transformations, and daily inconveniences

Abstract

This essay argues that due to demographic changes and continued urbanization processes, adequate planning and governing of deathscapes is expected to become increasingly important in Latin America over the next decades. Based on existing literature about the spatial and socio-cultural transformations of death spaces in other regions - particularly Asian metropolises - the author assesses possible scenarios for the development of deathscapes in Latin American metropolises as contributions to a new research agenda. Examples from Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico are presented to highlight current debates surrounding a gradual conversion from burial to cremation and power struggles within the funerary chain. How a rationalization of dead-disposal activities favours some social groups and disadvantages others forms one of the core questions of the proposed research agenda. The author further acknowledges the need to produce more reliable data on the capacity, layout and management of deathscapes in order to address Latin American regional patterns and stimulate sustainable alternatives.