The Dynamics of the Informal Land Market in Slums and the Residential Mobility of the Poor

Abstract

The current internal structure of large Brazilian cities, and therefore their segmented and segregated profile from the standpoint of spatial distribution of equipment, services, and the socio-demographic level of their residents, is largely shaped by the social processes of access to and definition of land use. Despite the marks and legacies of a colonial, patrimonialist, and slave-based past, which were deeply exclusionary, the socio-spatial structure of large Brazilian cities is influenced by the modern logic of coordinating social and economic actions. In short, we can identify two major logics of the modern world that coordinate individual and collective actions and were consolidated with the construction of nation-states and the generalization of mercantile logic. The first logic assigns the State the role of social coordinator of relations between individuals and social groups, and its function as a social mediator defines the form and extent of access to the wealth of society.