{"title":"The flammable city: Infrastructure, temporalities, and social struggles in Dock Sud, Buenos Aires","authors":"Simone Vegliò","doi":"10.1177/00420980251371824","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the impacts of large-scale infrastructure operations in Buenos Aires. Focussing on neo-extractive and logistical infrastructures in the southern area of Dock Sud, it investigates how these infrastructures <jats:italic>urbanise</jats:italic> – namely, how they integrate into urban spaces and the socio-spatial and material dynamics they generate. It does so by investigating the relationships between materiality and temporality, highlighting their complex and multifaceted interplay. While adopting a view <jats:italic>from below</jats:italic> – that is, by analysing the social conflicts experienced by those living in the spaces surrounding these infrastructures – the discussion sheds light on how Dock Sud’s urban materiality is contested through the creation of distinct and often conflicting temporalities. Specifically, the article delves into the socio-material situation of Villa Inflamable shantytown by scrutinising what it terms the politics of ‘mientras tanto’ [meanwhile], showing how residents <jats:italic>reversed</jats:italic> the state’s and municipality’s promotion of a prolonged condition of waiting to confront their extremely precarious and hazardous urban conditions. It contends that the mientras tanto reveals the fragmented ‘time – space’ of infrastructure, shedding light on its profoundly uneven socio-material dynamics and the related disputes that play out at the level of temporalities. The article argues that Dock Sud can be understood as the manifestation of a <jats:italic>flammable city</jats:italic> – specifically, the combination of the tireless political action conducted by the residents on the one hand, and the severe environmental conditions that the area suffers on the other.","PeriodicalId":51350,"journal":{"name":"Urban Studies","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Urban Studies","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980251371824","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article explores the impacts of large-scale infrastructure operations in Buenos Aires. Focussing on neo-extractive and logistical infrastructures in the southern area of Dock Sud, it investigates how these infrastructures urbanise – namely, how they integrate into urban spaces and the socio-spatial and material dynamics they generate. It does so by investigating the relationships between materiality and temporality, highlighting their complex and multifaceted interplay. While adopting a view from below – that is, by analysing the social conflicts experienced by those living in the spaces surrounding these infrastructures – the discussion sheds light on how Dock Sud’s urban materiality is contested through the creation of distinct and often conflicting temporalities. Specifically, the article delves into the socio-material situation of Villa Inflamable shantytown by scrutinising what it terms the politics of ‘mientras tanto’ [meanwhile], showing how residents reversed the state’s and municipality’s promotion of a prolonged condition of waiting to confront their extremely precarious and hazardous urban conditions. It contends that the mientras tanto reveals the fragmented ‘time – space’ of infrastructure, shedding light on its profoundly uneven socio-material dynamics and the related disputes that play out at the level of temporalities. The article argues that Dock Sud can be understood as the manifestation of a flammable city – specifically, the combination of the tireless political action conducted by the residents on the one hand, and the severe environmental conditions that the area suffers on the other.
期刊介绍:
Urban Studies was first published in 1964 to provide an international forum of social and economic contributions to the fields of urban and regional planning. Since then, the Journal has expanded to encompass the increasing range of disciplines and approaches that have been brought to bear on urban and regional problems. Contents include original articles, notes and comments, and a comprehensive book review section. Regular contributions are drawn from the fields of economics, planning, political science, statistics, geography, sociology, population studies and public administration.