Conflicts and Negotiations in the Metropolitan Construction. The West Corridor of Greater Buenos Aires (1854-1950)

Abstract

In this article, we explore the variety of actors involved in the process of production of urban land and the institutional changes produced by the decisions about how the city had to be. With the analysis of the urban growth along Buenos AiresÍ€™ west axis for the period 1854-1950, we develop an approximation that shows the combination of Í€œtop-downÍ€ guidelines about how the city must look like (regulations, the role of technical offices) with Í€œbottom-upÍ€ requirements from local agents. This reveals that, while in 19th century, the conflicts and negotiations for adjusting the regulations to the actual materialization of the city were solved among the neighbors, towards the end of the century, with a new institutional organization, an increasing bureaucratization in the consolidation of the new urban growth began, which diminished notoriety to local actors.