The role of fortified enclaves in the reproduction of a neoliberal urbanization model

Abstract

What is the role of fortified enclaves in reproducing a neoliberal urbanization model? How exactly is one phenomenon associated with another? Starting from the paradigmatic study of Teresa Caldeira on the city of walls, our central goal in this text is to analyze the relationship of convergence between the fortified enclaves and the process of neoliberalization of urban space. Despite all the advances in the research agenda on urban segregation and public space in recent decades resulting from the work of Caldeira, we consider that the relationship between fortified enclaves and urban neoliberalization is still a subteorized point in this broader debate. We argue that, although enclaves are not, in their origin, directly related to neoliberalism, their consolidation in the urban landscape has contributed in a relevant way to the reproduction of an increasingly neoliberalized city model, reconfiguring public space and urban life in line with the market ethos.