ANALYTICAL DIMENSIONS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE RIGHT TO THE CITY

URBAN DAILY LIFE AND URBAN POLITICS IN QUESTION IN SMALL CITIES

Abstract

The study of the notion of the Right to the City is generally associated with large cities and metropolitan contexts, given the evident consequences of urban problems arising from the capitalist-driven urbanization process, which treats the production of cities as commodity production, prioritizing exchange value over use value and exacerbating socio-spatial inequalities in these cities. Thus, in general, there is a tendency to believe that the construction of the Right to the City in small cities would face fewer obstacles due to the smaller dimensions of the urban fabric and the slower pace of urban life, as well as an assumed greater proximity among residents. However, our empirical research conducted in Ipiaçu-MG reveals that even in a municipality with 3,775 inhabitants (IBGE, 2022), difficulties in constructing the Right to the City persist. This is because some logics that govern the overall process of urbanization are also present in the configuration of small cities, such as heightened individualism and limited openness to including marginalized social groups in urban life, indicating that this debate needs to take place at multiple scales.