PRAXIS AND URBAN GEOGRAPHY

A POLITICAL PRACTICE FEEDING ON THEORETICAL DISCUSSIONS, AND A SUPPORTING RESEARCH THEORY DEEPENING ITS UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE PRACTICE

Abstract

In this article we advocate the importance and need to discuss national issues related to a few key problems within the cities of Brazil. First, we emphasize the contributions that geographers could offer, theoretically and politically, by defining urban policies through the agency, Council of Cities, (ConCidades). Then, we touch on urban land conflicts, which are of great importance to the dynamics of these Brazilian cities, as well as discuss policies for prevention and mediation of such conflicts. We conclude by presenting a report about the participation of the Commission of Urban Affairs, from the Section of São Paulo, part of the Brazilian Association of Geographers (AGB-SP), and in their struggles for the democratization of decision making, in the city of São Paulo, and in making it dignified and fair, in the prospect of overcoming inequalities. These actions fall under the same framework as fighting for the city to become a place where one can exercise democracy, where living means not only to be alive, but to live, where one can have a job and also access public areas, to have goods and quality services and the opportunity to have conveniences while sharing diversities and respecting differences.