Post-city proyect

The 21st century consolidates a scenario where most of the world’s population lives in urban areas that are expanding increasingly fast.

Argentina is one of the leading countries in this global urbanization process; In fact, its population became mainly urban more than a century ago, and it is today one of the most urbanized countries in the world. Although its urban population is usually assimilated to that of the megalopolis of Buenos Aires, a large part of Argentines (more than 10 million, 22% of total population) lives in metropolises between 500,000 and 2 million inhabitants.

In a context of global environmental crisis, profound inequality, informality and scarcity of resources, and given the number of people who live there, to add to the knowledge of those medium metropolitan regions in Argentina is essential.

However, traditional urban models seem to be insufficient to account for changes in scale and types in the spaces that give rise to urban life. Terms such as center/periphery, rural/urban and even the concept of city itself are put into discussion in the face of the new landscapes that make the urban condition possible.

Two questions arise: What are (will) these post-city metropolises be like? From what perspective can we explore them in time and space, beyond hegemonic models that hold a strong fetish for density and production/consumption processes of the last century?

To answer these questions, the Post-city Project articulates a series of explorations to reconstruct the urban condition in the medium metropolitan regions of Argentina, as a contribution to current advances in Latin America and the world.

The Post-city Project is organized around two main strategies:

A post-city ontological turn, understanding the new ways in which the urban condition emerges in the landscape, beyond circumstantial spatial forms and the concentration of people. Its progress (of a more theoretical and speculative nature) can be followed here.

An exploratory, situated epistemic turn, mapping the urban condition through a multivariate and transdisciplinary analysis, combining exploratory, historical and comparative approaches. The cartography built in this stage is gathered on this website; The details of methods used, conclusions obtained and discussions raised can be followed here.

The aim of this map collection is to make these alternative readings of the urban question available to the community: this knowledge can (and should) be further enriched through discussion and collective reflection. Post-city is based on the fact that the knowledge that We build and the discussions on collective production of the urban condition are essential for habitat and urbanization policies/projects that positively affect communities´ well-being, inclusion, and sustainable development.

The Post-city Project is part of the Habitat, Environment and Territory Program (PHAT), part of the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad (CIECS) of CONICET-UNC.