URBANISMO PARTICIPATIVO O URBANISMO DEMOCRÁTICO

CRISIS Y CRÍTICA

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 2008 economic crisis, movements that consider participatory urbanism as a solution for many of the problems of present day cities have continued to grow rapidly, and at present are predominant. This essay seeks to question said movements, not with regards to their originality but rather for the purpose of analyzing, in the light of their short history, whether they are currently timely or suitable. Using a system of generic analysis, we follow the evolution of these movements from their origins in the early sixties throughout economic cycles of growth and crisis. The application of this method allows studying these movements within the evolutionary context of urban planning, revealing the reversions and obliterations they have undergone until their present-day revival, and offering a critical point of view of their current status. From Jacobs to Thatcher, to Blair and the post-politics of Rancière and Žižek, this is the story of the deactivation of participatory urbanism as a tool of political subversion.