The role of the land market in configuring some social-spatial feature of latin america cities

A central question guides the exploration put forth in this article: Do peculiarities exist in the way land markers function in Latin American cirtes? Contra­ry to the beliefs among specialists regarding this theme, this article maintains that the market for urban land in Latin American cities obeys the gen­eral pattems found in capitalist cities. Nevertheless, because of specific social, politic, and economic char­acterisrics,of the Latin American city, the socio-spa­tial organization  of the  city has very  particular features. These are derived in part from the specific characrerisrics of the process of wealth       accumulation  in Latin American, for example low salaries, accomppanied by significant social inequalities, an accelerated rate of urban growth, struetural weak­ ness of the state, and with significant obstades for the homogenizarion of the markets around the pro­ducrion of construcred space. Inspite of the diversi­ty of nation  in Latin America its cities have been configured around certain common characterisrics, very specific to the region: the permanent withdrawal­of the elite moving in the same direcrion, each time farther from the historicenter; an apparent socioeconomic decaying of the same center, and a conrinuous socio-spatial segtegation and heteroge­neity in the prodution of the space. In each one of these cases the market has operated s a central regulator of economic behavior, contributing to the rise of the aforementioned characteristics. Nevertheless, in some cases, its forms of operation have been opposed to those commonly accepted. First, the withdrawal of the elite from the center would in part be volun and in partforced by the compe­ ririon imposed by Other uses given to the space, which are more popular and high1y profitable. Second, this withdrawal is far from implying the socioeconomic decaying of the center. Finally, the land market would be funcrional to the continua! separarion between die forms of social producrion of the constrocted space.