Model-cities convergent strategies for their international diffusion

Abstract

Some cities have been defined as models and its programs and basic projects are integrated into the hegemonic urban agenda. Reflecting the contemporary stage of capitalistic development, this agenda disseminates the ideas in accordance with the global tendencies, based on the actions envisioned by local governments in search for competitive insertion in the world market. The governments that conceive the city as a commodity see it as a means to attract consumers and investors. The present text tries to identify the strategies and discourses that characterize the model-cities. A homogeneous pattern of urban policy seems to be applied to very different cities as Curitiba (Brazil) and Singapore (Singapore), the two illustrative cases examined in the present discussion.

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