Shantytowns and the Modern City: Agency and Urban Poverty in South-Western Buenos Aires

ADRIANA LAURA MASSIDDA

Cambridge

Seminario; King's College Graduate Lunchtime Seminar; 2015

University of Cambridge - King's College

As the world population becomes predominantly urban,and shantytowns´ growth increasingly outpaces urbanisation, the extent and urgency of the housing shortage problem become ever more evident. Although the scaleof the challenge is unprecedented, shantytowns and housing shortage are notnew. Shantytowns in their current form emerged in the Global South just beforethe mid-twentieth century and have been object of a fair amount ofinterventions and debate since then. However, the history of urban povertyremains critically under-researched.            Thispresentation will look at shantytowns historically focusing on their capacityfor transforming the urban landscape and their ability to offer -or not - ahousing solution. A selection of case studies in South-West Buenos Aires willbe examined to this purpose, with a focus on the period 1958-1972. Theshantytowns will not be analysed in isolation but through their often conflictiverelationship to the State.