Notes to rethink articulation spaces between housing and city in popular settlements

Abstract

The public space of Latin American popular settlements is fundamentally the result of the social production of the habitat and, in some cases, of the intervention of public policies. In these contexts, the spaces of articulation between housing and the city are of special interest due to the variety of uses and functions that they are capable of harbor. Frequently, they are conceived as an extension of the home, blurring the boundaries between the public and private spheres of habitat. The article seeks to characterize, in an exploratory manner, the spaces of articulation between housing and the city in popular settlements, taking Villa 20 in Buenos Aires as a case study. This neighborhood has been going through, since 2016, a Comprehensive Re-urbanization Process (PIRU) carried out by the local State. Through a qualitative approach, based on documentary analysis and field observation, functions, uses and meanings of the spaces of articulation between housing and city are pointed out. Among the findings, it is corroborated that its organization has different characteristics from other urban spaces in the city, some elements to consider when intervening them from public policy are pointed out. In addition, it recovers the power of “everyday life” as a study perspective for the Latin American urban space.