Social Construction and Urban Space: The Social Foundations of Urban Redevelopment in Mexico City

• In Event: 1451 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 18. Urban Development

Abstract

Dominant accounts of urban political economy argue that an assemblage of actors, or a growth machine, consistently intervenes in cities to increase the exchange value of urban space. While this approach establishes profit-extraction as a normative goal, it does not as closely consider what kinds of urban redevelopment projects are thinkable interventions for members of exchange-value coalitions. To supplement the growth machine perspective, I draw upon insights in new economic sociology that examine the social foundations of economic action. Using 21 semi-structured interviews with city urbanists working to redevelop Mexico City’s city center, I argue that in addition to profit-oriented motivations, organizational schemas, connections with other city agencies and investors, political concerns, and functional limitations all impact what types of urban redevelopment projects are conceivable interventions. By highlighting the political context of urban redevelopment, this research also draws attention to how use-value coalition members are mobilized by broader political questions, in addition to their defense of the use-value of urban space.

Author

• Steven Edward Schmidt, University of California, Irvine