Reflections in “informal” land management as a trait of land markets in Latin American cities

There is a considerable absence in urban studies, particularly in urban economy, in relation with the treatment of the informal urban land markets. The signifi cance of this markets and its prospect for future urban growth in presence
of an evident reduction of squattering practices (invasion), impose its study with an urgent priority. We propose, as an initial research task, the construction of databases and information on the informal land market dynamics and on the residential mobility of the poor. One important interrogation that we propose to inquire has to
do with its eventual similarities or differences with the formal land market. We propose to respond to this challenge in two levels. The fi rst, consist on an empirical survey in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro; the second is the reformulation of land informal market and the mobility of the urban poor as an object of conceptualization that allows us to revisit traditional themes of the urban economy orthodox (neoclassical) with new theoretical perspectives.