Conflictive territorial co-production and the neo-apartheid city Lessons from favela politics in Brazil
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Abstract
This paper explores urbanisation and activism in Rocinha - the most populous informal settlement in Brazil - to examine how enduring inequalities intersect with newer, conflictive forms of territorial co-production. Using the concept of the [neo-]apartheid city, the paper distinguishes between ‘persisting’ and ‘neo’ apartheid processes to analyse how socio-spatial divisions are produced and challenged through infrastructure. Drawing on multi-method (qualitative-inclined) research conducted since 2017, the study focuses on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructures as key arenas of democratic claims-making. It shows how these infrastructures symbolise both marginalisation and possibilities for collective action. The paper contributes to Southern urban scholarship by offering a temporal-spatial framework to understand urban apartheid logics, highlighting the democratic tensions of service privatisation in favelas, and calling for more intersectional and decolonial approaches to co-production. It argues that granular, longitudinal perspectives are essential to grasp the layered dynamics of inequality and change in informal settlements.
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