Neoliberal Authoritarian Urbanism

Abstract

This article discusses the correspondence between current patterns of urban governance and neoliberal authoritarianism, in an urbanism marked by the accentuation of coercion and legal administrative mechanisms that favour the reproduction of capital in urban space and restrict the space for popular action and resistance. To this end, we expose and analyse the cases of Turkey and Brazil, with emphasis on the correlation between urban governance and capital accumulation. The cases explored demonstrate the spatial dimension of capital reproduction, and how this directly impacts the lives of impoverished city inhabitants. We analyse the cases of Turkey and Brazil, based on the discussion of the commodification of territories, the expropriation of common goods and their re-appropriation by capital. To interpret the current phase of capital accumulation in cities, we present and discuss the concept of neoliberal authoritarian Urbanism, which combines historical urban actors such as landlords, developers, builders, banks with an increasingly authoritarian state in the development of large urban projects and real estate developments. This growing association between autocratic personalities of state power and private actors poses new challenges for understanding the production of urban space.

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