The Representations of Space as Devices of Urban Exclusivity/Exclusion: Towards a Rent of Segregation in Polanco

Abstract

From a critical perspective on the production and management of neoliberal urban planning, this article analyzes the process of construction and reproduction of conditions of urban exclusivity applied in Polanco, Mexico City, through spatial representations and governmental exercises, deployed as geopolitical/biopolitical devices of socio-spatial segregation toward marginalized groups. It is argued that the social exclusion of these groups represents a condition for the elitization and revalorization that the neighborhood has experienced in the last two decades, the objective of which has been to increase the rent in the real estate, tourism, and service sectors. Using a methodology that includes documentary analysis of the Polanco Partial Urban Development Program, the Civic Culture Law, and other regulations, it is evident how the Mexico City government and private sector have been implementing urban planning projects that promote self-exclusion among the working poor, informal merchants, taxi drivers, and others, and to preserve Polanco’s urban image. The conclusion of this research is that this problem can only be reversed through urban development policies aimed at reducing urban inequalities in terms of habitability, urban facilities, goods, and services, and not through urban policies that only foster elitization, gentrification, and urban exclusivity.