Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires)

Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Habitat International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/habitatint

Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires)
Michelini a, b, *, Patricia Pintos c Juan Jose a

Complutense University of Madrid, Department of Human Geography, Spain Spanish National Research Council, Institute of Economy, Geography and Demography (CSIC-IEGD), Spain Center for Geographical Research, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institute (UNLP-CONICET), Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences, La Plata National University, Argentina b c

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 1 July 2015 Accepted 8 August 2015 Available online xxx

During the last two decades, the metropolitan residential expansion in Argentina became the domain of gated communities. Peripheralization of the middle and upper-middle class population followed that of the poor and working class, establishing a scenario of uneven competition between both ends of the social spectrum for the available land in the metropolitan periphery and giving rise to new forms of urban segregation. Drawing on contemporary debates on socio-spatial segregation in Latin America and based on the cases of Nordelta and Las Tunas (municipality of Tigre, Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region), the paper explores the multiple articulations underlying how relations between neighbouring areas in these contradictory spaces are managed. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Metropolitan areas Gated communities Slums Socio-spatial segregation Buenos Aires

1. Introduction The outbreak in 2001 of the economic, political and institutional crisis in Argentina generated a structural change over the last decade. The recovery of the role of the state and the economic intervention policies aimed at rebuilding a country devastated by over two decades of neoliberal experiment, favoured the longest period of sustained economic growth in recent history.1 In this context, new articulations between the state and civil society emerged. One of the most noteworthy areas in which this occurred was habitat, which became a pillar of government policy. Programmes to provide access to housing were implemented,

* Corresponding author. Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Geography and History, Department of Human Geography, C/ Profesor Aranguren s/n e Floor 12 Office 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (J.J. Michelini). 1 From 2003 to 2008 the average rate of annual growth was 8.5 per cent, with a slight dip in 2009 (0.83 per cent) and then continued strong growth in 2010 (9.2 per cent) and 2011 (8 per cent). (International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, September 2011; Consulted: May 4, 2015). After 2012 the effects of the international economic crisis marked the start of a phase of slower growth that has continued to the present.

even including forms of “social production of habitat”. However, this did not democratize access to land and housing. Although the state began to define policies directed at reducing the deficit in habitat, the new housing was often directed at marginal urban areas. In a context of minimal regulation, residential expansion came to be dominated by gated communities, a process justified by arguments such as greater security, contact with nature or the creation of a common identity. The middle and upper-middle classes followed the working class to the periphery, where they had already occupied plots of land in the same territory, provoking an unequal “competition” for land between the two poles of the social spectrum. The coexistence of these phenomena is a central characteristic of the new pattern of urban segregation in Latin America that has been consolidating since the mid-1980s (Sabatini, 2006; Vidal-Koppmann, 2010). Therefore, small-scale study of the multiple articulations that arise between them due to their proximity is key to understanding the meaning of contemporary urban segregation. Moreover, according to Auyero (2001), the creation of impoverished enclaves is the result of the framework of political opportunities and the articulation of actors disputing the territory, which

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.08.011 0197-3975/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

2

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

itself constitutes a central element of processes of social destitution. However, there are few studies that deal with this as a whole and therefore our understanding of these processes and their implications for public policies is limited. Focussing on an area of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region (BAMR) in which Nordelta, the largest mega gated community in Argentina, comes in contact with the working class neighbourhood Las Tunas, this paper analyses the linkages and interaction dynamics between both spaces and evaluates their implications from the perspective of contemporary debates on socio-spatial segregation. The focus is not on the obvious territorial divide in residential or socio-economic terms, but rather on three underlying aspects to that process: the political-institutional context, social articulations and environmental issues. The approach to this issue draws on two previous research projects, “Aquatic communities. Transformations of the territory and environment derived from building polderized gated communities on the floodplains and wetlands of the lower basin of the
n river”2 and “Private urban planning and land management on Luja
n river”3 (2009 and the wetlands of the lower basin of the Luja 2014). Both provided a great deal of background information for the inquiry phase, and facilitated the reconstruction of temporalities in the production of the polderized gated communities (PGCs) and their disruptive effects on the pre-existing working class neighbourhood. The information used to analyse the expansion of the PGCs over the past two decades was provided by the geo-referenced databases of three public provincial bodies4 and from the zoning maps of the municipality of Tigre. This information was confirmed by field work carried out with the assistance of qualified local actors. The qualitative approach to the issue is based on 10 semistructured interviews with community referents, institutional actors and politicians in Las Tunas, organized along three lines: a) urban changes to the area surrounding Las Tunas. This focused on how walling off of a large part of its perimeter exacerbated the impact of floods, increased the pollution in Las Tunas Arroyo, thereby deteriorating sanitary conditions, and affected how the neighbourhood functioned (isolation and mobility conflicts) b) the urban planning policies that intervene in the production of gated or open cities, observing the perception of how public investment in both sectors is distributed and the government's role in configuring a specific model of environmental urban development; and c) the links between both forms of urban development. In particular the paternalistic approach of the gated communities regarding the needs of the working class neighbourhood, as well as the conflicts between the neighbouring communities arising from the transformation of the natural habitat. A transversal analysis of the responses supports the assessment of the three dimensions considered to approach the case study: the political institutional context, the socio-institutional articulations between actors and the environmental conflicts. In addition, documental sources were used, including technical reports from
n Nordelta, the municipality of Tigre and interest the Fundacio groups, the websites of social movements and local and regional

2

Research Incentives Programme. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Argentina. Research Incentives Programme. Universidad Nacional de La Plata (2009e2014). 4 Provincial Land Registration Office within the Ministry of Economy -current Buenos Aires Province Tax Agency-; Under Secretary of Municipal Affairs -within the Ministry of Government- and the Provincial Urban and Territorial Planning Office. 3

newspapers. The paper begins with a brief theoretical overview of the new socio-spatial segregation in Latin America and the reorganization of the metropolitan territory of Buenos Aires over the past decade and later presents the case study and analyses the main results of the research. The work closes with a discussion and conclusions. 2. Metropolitan expansion and residential segregation: toward new analytical focuses Several years ago it was posited that the new residential configuration in the metropolitan peripheries would lead to opportunities for social mixing and the creation of a more cohesive metropolis (Sabatini, 2006). However, no studies corroborate that hypothesis after a decade. This is primarily because research has focused on spatially identifying and delimiting residential segregation as a homogenous phenomenon (characterized by the univocal correlation between social position and spatial location) that inevitably arises from capitalist urban planning and, therefore, only its social impact requires study. Segregation is often explained as a process inherent to city dynamics (Rodríguez Vignoli & Arriagada, 2004). In fact, in the last few decades, particularly in Latin America, the phenomenon has been consolidating as consubstantial to urban production and the reproduction of the social groups that live in them. The slums and informal settlements that emerge in the periphery and the self-segregated groups living in the walled citadels of gated communities have not only transformed the city landscape with their peculiar characteristics, but also created new urban scenarios where physical proximity between social groups leads to a naturally segregated coexistence, ensured by the physical borders that divide areas with different social positions. This context is favoured by processes external to the direct experience of the urban habitat, yet have a decisive impact on it, such as state interventions carried out through (de)regulation and valuation mechanisms or the work of real estate agents through their advertising messages, projects and ventures. These actors are included because they actively intervene in the creation of institutional and market conditions to value or devalue urban areas, thereby shaping property values that eventually influence segregation, creating privileged options for a few, opportunities for some and limitations for the majority. The creation of a segmented real estate market that limits access to urban space has a heavy influence on the social representations and practices of different groups, because it influences the decision on where families settle, while also directing or reinforcing the effects of segregation. Over the past twenty years the locational preferences of middle and upper class Latin Americans has shifted toward living in metropolitan peripheries, leading to the colonization of areas once reserved for the poor and working class, who had been forced out of central areas where housing had become unaffordable to them because of its increasingly high prices. Sabatini, Sarella, & V
azquez (2008) characterized this process as the gentrification of the working class periphery, introducing new forms of segregation without expulsion that have produced new conflicts, including an overall increase in land prices or renewed social and environmental conflicts associated with urban planning that is incompatible with surrounding slums, but also new forms of managing their coexistence that seek to prevent or overcome conflicts. Understanding this new scenario of urban segregation in metropolitan peripheries, characterized by the reduction of the physical distance between the elites and the working class, requires new theoretical and methodological approaches. First of all, its objective and subjective aspects must be considered, with special

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

attention to its dynamic nature (Sabatini, 2006), that is, the temporality of the segregation (Carman, da Cunha, & Segura, 2013). For example, Rodríguez Vignoli (2001) distinguishes two kinds of segregation: geographic, referring to the differential physical distribution of social groups in the city, and sociological, alluding to the lack of interaction between different social groups. Although the presence of one kind of segregation does not ensure the existence of the other (Rodríguez Vignoli, 2001), both are usually related (White, 1983). A second aspect to consider is the introduction of the territorial scale as a key component of the analysis. The spread of mega gated communities in the working class periphery could be viewed as an increase in social heterogeneity and, therefore, as decrease in segregation at the regional level. However, in order to identify and describe processes that translate physical proximity into social proximity, study at the small-scale ethe spatial reference to the daily life of its inhabitants (Duhau, 2013) - is required. Finally, as Carman et al. (2013) pointed out, it is risky to use the notion of segregation as a determinant of observable facts or processes. Although it is useful to consider it as disruptive to a specific whole eurban sociality e it is really about “understanding how segregation is also constructed in social representations and practices in the numerous daily interactions between actors with diverse economic, social and cultural capital” (Carman et al., 2013: 13). 3. Buenos Aires: changes in the organization of the metropolitan territory The 1990s in Argentina were a period of political-organizational, economic and social change with a notable territorial character. State reform and economic restructuring gave way to a neoliberal transformation that continues to permeate its decision making structures, planning and administration of infrastructures, and services, and also commands the most dynamic sectors of the economy. It took little more than two decades for the BAMR to shift to an economy primarily tied to consumption, new investment flows directed at the selective increase of land values in real estate developments and the construction of road infrastructures that guaranteed commutes between metropolitan centres and subcentres. Metropolitan expansion was particularly dynamic during this period; central areas were reconverted or adapted and old industrial areas abandoned or transformed into spaces for consumption and recreation. But the most significant morphological change came with the expansion of the residential habitat, contributing to the continuous outward push of city borders at a rate that exceeded that of informal settlement growth. This was made possible by heavy investments in the most dynamic areas, decreased State regulation and selective modernization of the neoliberal project. Residential expansion was sparked by real estate speculation that led to the massive creation of gated communities, producing an
ndez Wagner & authentic urban “residential revolution” (Ferna Varela, 2003). In essence, this model of growth in the peripheries consisted of the creation of residential areas for the middle- and upper-middle classes, constructed according to imaginaries designed by the development capital. The developers appealed to the idealization of a certain kind of landscape,5 arguing that they would provide environmental sustainability and recover degraded areas elowlands and wetlands e that were considered marginal from the functional perspective of the big city. However these arguments

5 That of segregation behind walled perimeters and the bold search for manufactured forms of natural landscapes.

3

masked construction practices that were destructive to the environment and natural resources. On the other side of this process, which Torres (1998) denominated suburbanization of the elites, the sectors impoverished by the economic model had been coalescing into a group excluded from the labour market and increasingly affected by the shortage of land and housing. The supply of residential space for the poorer sectors had entered into crisis at the end of the 1970s due to restrictions imposed by Law-Decree 8912/77,6 which terminated the production of plots of land without basic services.
ndez Wagner, 2010), which The “working class plots city” (Ferna had been the dominant model until the 1980s, allowed the first ring of municipalities around the city to be completed in the 1950s and 60s and the second around the 1970s. This led to the massive acquisition of urban land by workers through the purchase of quotas of plots of land at very low prices, and the gradual selfconstruction of their housing. The rupture of this process conditioned the acquisition of land and housing for the vast majority of city residents, the poorest and most vulnerable, who although very active in the demand for housing did not constitute a “solvent demand” for the market. This is the foundation of the phenomenon of massive squatter communities and micro-squats as alternative forms of producing habitat outside of the legal framework. The peripheralization of the middle and upper-middle classes, along with that of the working class created a “competition” for the land available in the periphery between both ends of the social spectrum. Because of this it has become common to see both forms of habitat alternating in a patchwork of segregated residential models, with unequal access to services, sanitation systems and levels of urban quality. 4. Tigre District: production of differentiated habitats in the
n river lower basin of the Luja
n river basin, along with those of the Reconquista and The Luja Matanza-Riachuelo rivers (Fig. 1), is part of the BAMR's system of large drainage basins that drain into Río de la Plata. It occupies 2856 km2 spanning municipalities that have approximately 1,100,000 inhabitants, with diverse population and production profiles. Starting from where it crosses Route 9 the river enters into a low broad floodplain of around 25,000 ha that covers the locales of
rate, Campana, Escobar and Tigre. Here the river coincides with Za one of the most dynamic urban corridors in the north metropolitan territory, with a high demand for land to develop gated communities, especially in Tigre. The municipality of Tigre, with 376,381 inhabitants in 2010 (CNPV/INDEC),7 is located 30 km northwest of Buenos Aires, on the
river, occupies 360 km2 distributed in two right shore of the Parana
Delta (220 km2) sectors, the islands, which form part of the Parana 2 and the continental sector (140 km ). In both, water related processes have had an impact on social processes. The lowlands of the continental sector are found along the right
n River until it reaches Río de la Plata, 5 m above sea side of the Luja

6 It regulates territorial planning and land usage for all municipalities in the province of Buenos Aires, establishing, among other things, that the municipality is primarily responsible for organizing its own territory and the procedures for approving urban planning and regulations. 7 2010 National Population and Housing Census, National Institute of Censuses and Statistics.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

4

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

Fig. 1. Metropolitan system of water basins. Source: Authors and Silvina Fern
andez, 2013.

level.8 This is where the majority of the real estate investment has been concentrated over the past several years, especially after the success of the Nordelta model. The rise of gated communities has positioned this municipality among the main recipients of this kind of investment (99 gated communities9 and 3557 ha), of which almost half (44) are located on lowlands. The majority of the area covered by gated developments is concentrated in such areas: 2704 ha or 76 per cent, reflecting the developers' preference for lowlands. The vitality of gated developments can also be observed in the volume of construction of such communities. Between 2003 and 2008 residential construction permits for 1.57 million m2 were given (Baer, 2013), generally occupying empty spaces between working class slums. There are currently also 39 slums and informal settlements dispersed throughout the municipality with 51,641 inhabitants (Infohabitat, 2009), which coexist, separated by walls, with the gated communities. The majority of these slums and squats were established before the gated communities were constructed and for those located on flood plains, the heavy alteration of the drainage patterns and the polderization (Pintos & Narodowski, 2012) of the perimeters by the real estate developments have given rise to conflicts or aggravated the already precarious conditions of the habitat of many families. In addition, the entrance of the elite in this habitat did not lead to the consolidation of basic infrastructures10, particularly those related to health care, which have not improved much between 2001/2010, remaining low. So while the population without access to water was 35.9 per cent in 2001, a decade later the percentage has only dropped 2 tenths to 35.7 per cent. The same occurs with

8 In earlier studies we have determined that 7.5 m is the critical altitude for the
n river. In the case of the Tigre municipality, located at entire lower basin of the Luja the end of the rivers trajectory, an elevation of 5 m is applied coinciding with the start of the ravine. 9 Source: authors work based on data from the Provincial Directorate of Urban and Territorial Planning of the province of Buenos Aires. 10 Many of the new gated communities possess basic infrastructure (water, gas, etc.) not connected to the general networks.

the percentage of the population without sewer drainage which dropped from 86.3 per cent in 2001 to 82.7 per cent in 2010, barely a 3.6 per cent difference. 5. The advance of the private city in the working class periphery: Nordelta Law-Decree 8912/77 imposed greater regulation and control on basic infrastructure and social facilities on the subdivision of new land destined for residential use, which translated into higher land prices and the subsequent loss of profitability for traditional businesses in the sector. At the same time, it acknowledged a new urban product known as the “country club”, which would become a new alternative for the real estate development market, redirected toward the demand of a solvent sector. As a consequence, the north (Route 9) and northwest (Route 8) corridors were the most “favoured” by larger investments in resi
n dential projects of this kind. Both cross the lower basin of the Luja river and it is there that the real estate market played a key role in transforming the wetland ecosystems. For the market, the value of spaces that had previously been considered marginal were increased through various operations11 and positioned as desirable new locations for middle and uppermiddle class sectors via a residential offer based on landscapes and vistas whose main resource and attraction is water. In this context, starting at the end of the 1990s the projects developed in the BAMR were almost exclusively large gated communities. The Nordelta model became the new standard, based on a repeating pattern of gated communities with the majority of the plots in front of artificial lakes, which in turn provided material for the consolidation of polders or embankments that conform the area that can be built upon. The Nordelta mega-gated community was the project of

11 First large tracts of land are acquired in low lying areas or floodplains at (low) market prices for land in that condition. Later, the value of the land increases when institutional conditions allow changes in zoning or other regulations or for the public sector invests in infrastructure, allowing the new activity to be carried out.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

5

Fig. 2. Areas of contact between Nordelta and Las Tunas (2014). Source: Patricia Pintos (left) and Infojus Noticias (right).

Supercemento S.A.I.C. and DYOPSA (Dragados y Obras Portuarias S.A.), two national companies with a great deal of experience in infrastructure, sanitation and the construction of state-subsidized housing. At the start of the 1970s they acquired a large tract of
n river land (1600 ha12) in the municipality of Tigre, on the Luja floodplain. In 1990, the developers presented an urban proposal to provincial authorities that was approved by Provincial Decree 1736/92 and incorporated into Tigre's municipal zoning code by Ordinance 1297/92 as a “new urban nucleus”. In 1992 Nordelta S.A. was founded to manage the project and in 1998 the group sold 50 per cent of the company's shares to Consultatio Real Estate, initiating the sale of plots in 1999. This project required an investment of $1 billion US dollars,13 of which $200 million was invested in the removal of 20 million m3 of dirt14 to fill in the terrain above the flood level, the construction of a central lake and the infrastructure needed for the complex. The urban facilities offered are in line with the self-reliant image that defines Nordelta, including five private bilingual schools, an open air shopping centre, a supermarket and various restaurants, a medical centre, and a sports area that includes a sports club, a football club and a golf course. Currently 7000 houses have been built with 25,000 residents, although the project may reach 40,000 when the master plan is completed.15 The supposed environmental sustainability of these gated communities, based on the argument that they would “recover” the wetlands, contrasts drastically with the effects of its practices, which are destructive to native environments. These destructive practices include hydraulic filling procedures,16 mechanical removal of dirt, altering elevations and modifying slopes, creating lakes, diverting rivers and eliminating biodiversity, among others. The picturesque landscapes in this area of the basin and the proximity of waterways, coupled with rural land offered at prices below market value, explains the voracity with which the wetlands were transformed. It also explains how important the bodies of artificial water are as a differentiating factor. They serve as organizing elements for the

12 Equivalent to 11.5 per cent of the total continental territory of the municipality of Tigre. 13
mo es la primera ciudad Newspaper article in P
agina 12 of 10/05/2001. “Co cerrada que se construye en Tigre. Todo un mundo detr
as de los muros.” http:// www.pagina12.com.ar/2001/01-05/01-05-10/pag19.htm. 14 Diego Ríos indicates that they removed more than 24 million cubic meters of earth and they elevated the terrain on average 1.7 m (Ríos, 2002, 2009). 15 http://www.pueblum.com/news/countries/desarrollos/2014/05/08/proyectanque-nordelta-superara-los-40-000-habitantes/ (Last access: 12/11/2014). 16 A technique that consists in extracting sedimentary material using dredging. For more information on this technique and its environmental impact consult the work of Ríos (2010), Ríos and Pírez (2008).

urban proposal, whose organic plans broke with the typical checkerboard configuration of the open city. The proximity of a plot to the water also determines its price, those bordering the lakes being the most expensive ones.

6. Las Tunas: from marginal neighbourhood to enclosed slum Las Tunas is located in General Pacheco, a municipality of Tigre. It covers 280 ha and is similar to many slums in the BAMR. But one aspect that makes it of particular interest is that since the end of the 1990s it has been completely encircled by four private gated communities: Nordelta (1600 ha), El Encuentro (100 ha), El Talar I and II (160 ha) and La Comarca (37 ha). The enclosure is completed by Frigorífico Rioplatense, adjacent to the Arroyo Sector south of the neighbourhood (Figs. 2 and 3). This neighbourhood arose in the 1950s when families searching for employment in nearby businesses settled there (automobile, refrigerator and food industry, tanneries, etc.). It later underwent significant demographic growth, and by 2001 had 17,280 inhabitants (Ezcurra & Juana, 2001), and according to conservative estimates today has a population that doubles that number.17 Its trajectory, conformation and characteristics, as well as its location and circumstances, have made Las Tunas a vulnerable environmental and socio-economic area, a situation that has been exacerbated by the surrounding gated communities and the lack of state intervention in the neighbourhood.18 The housing problem is one of the most pressing and land squatting is the norm. Only 12 blocks (10 per cent of the neighbourhood) have legal land titles, a situation made worse by the predominance of precariously constructed housing.19 Las Tunas also has significant deficits in infrastructure and facilities. The majority of the streets are dirt or gravel roads that lack sidewalks and adequate illumination. Especially problematic is the

17 There is no precise data on the population residing in Las Tunas, since the Population and Housing Census does not offer information at that scale. The diverse sources consulted provided very different estimates. A study funded by the
n Nordelta, Marchesotti y Said (2006) refers to a population of between Fundacio 25,000 and 50,000 inhabitants”. Boniolo (2009) mentions “25,928 inhabitants ac
n Nordelta provides other estimates in cording to the 2001 census. La Fundacio successive annual reports: in 2011 referring to 40,000 inhabitants, while in the
n Nordelta, 2012). following year it refers to more than 33,000 inhabitants (Fundacio In our case we considered the last estimate to be the most reliable, since it coincides with the information provided by the delegate of Las Tunas and a counsellor of the municipality of Tigre who we consulted for this study. 18 Evidence of this lack of territorial analysis by the municipality, which has delegated these kinds of functions to the private sector and, more concretely, to the
n Nordelta, who are responsible for the only reports available. Fundacio 19 Centro de Servicios Las Tunas: http://www.lastunasong.org.ar/lastunas.php (Last access: 22/07/2014).

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

6

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

Fig. 3. Las Tunas and adjacent gated communities. Source: Google Earth and authors.

scarcity of potable water, provided by house wells built by families that work irregularly and around ten community standpipes provided by various NGOs20. In addition, the aquifers are highly polluted due to the industrial waste produced by the surrounding businesses. Various reports reveal that there is a high level of arsenic, causing a severe socio-sanitary problem21 that is exacerbated by the lack of a sewer system and the accumulation of waste produced by the adjacent gated communities (Boniolo, 2009, 18). Finally, the polderized gated communities that surround it have increased the risk of flooding, especially in the areas of Las Tunas that are next to the arroyo and Nordelta.22 The neighbourhood lacks adequate health and education services. It has only one public primary care centre, complimented by semi-private initiatives between the municipality and business
n Nordelta is the most notable, actors, among which the Fundacio providing the Prevention and Nutritional Assistance Centre (CEPAN)23 and the “Uni2 por un nido” initiative, aimed at reducing the infant mortality rates in the neighbourhood.24 The education deficit is caused by the relatively limited supply of public schools. Las Tunas has four day care centres, five public schools and one private school of primary education and one of secondary education. There are also two bachilleratos populares
n Rodríguez and Raíces) that complete secondary education (Simo for adults and provide academic tutoring to children. But this does not meet the educational needs of the ten thousand children in the neighbourhood. According to Marchesotti and Said (2006) 60 per cent of children under five have no access to formal education and only 30 per cent of the population have

20

www.lastunasong.org. http://www.cuencareconquista.com.ar/blastunas.htm. According to Ezcurra and Juana (2001), the difference in elevation between the neighbourhood and Nordelta is 2.5 m. 23 http://www.fundacionnordelta.org/es/salud-area.php#.U8U2M0DEC6Q. 24 http://www.actualidaddetigre.com/index.php?option¼com_ content&view¼article&id¼1796:fundacion-nordelta-allianz-y-la-municipalidadde-tigre-presentaron-uni2-por-un-nido&catid¼39:instituciones&Itemid¼30.

completed primary education. The situation is even more critical at the secondary and tertiary levels due to lack of education offer and the difficulty involved in accessing these kinds of centres. Previous studies reveal internal differences within the neighbourhood that should be noted. Ezcurra and Juana (2001) identified four sectors differentiated by the characteristics of their population, morphology and socio-economic levels. Among these the Fondo sector and the Arroyo sector are the most marginalized. The Bajo sector (75 ha) is a slum inhabited by families from the interior of Argentina and some countries of the region eparticularly, Perú and Paraguay-that grew spectacularly during the first decade of the century, from 1500 inhabitants in 2001 (Ezcurra & Juana, 2001) to more than 12,000 inhabitants25 at the end of the decade (Infohabitat, 2009). In addition to population density (11,000 per km2), two other characteristics accentuate its physical and social vulnerability. First of all, its location next to gated communities increases the risk of flooding. It is also the area farthest away from the only highway (Route 9) and public transportation, further exacerbating its general isolation. The Arroyo sector (40 ha) is the poorest area. The precarious conditions are accentuated in a 10 ha sector crossed by the Las Tunas arroyo where a slum has been established with an estimated population of 3,50026 (Infohabitat, 2009). Given its location and population density, it is especially vulnerable to flooding whenever the walls of La Comarca stop the water from draining. Particularly relevant is its proximity to the large pools of drainage water from Frigorífico Rioplatense, located on the adjacent plot of land, increasing its exposure to the pollution produced by the company. 7. Managing relations between neighbouring communities

21

22

How

25 26

relations

between

neighbouring

communities

are

Population estimated based on surface area. Population estimated based on surface area.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

managed is critical in a space characterized by intense socioterritorial contradictions. As mentioned earlier, this paper focuses on three aspects of the territory: the political context, environmental issues and socio-institutional links. 7.1. Political-institutional context: the “Tigre model” The type of urban planning consolidated over the past two decades known as the “Tigre model” is a clear example of class privileges upon which investments in the territory are decided, based on a neoliberal urban public policy. Various studies agree that underlying this development model is a praxis of urban marketing (Girola, 2007; Ríos, 2005) that seeks to capture investments to increase the municipality's tax base and reposition its socioeconomic profile, favouring the occupation of “unproductive” vacant land with developments directed at high income residents. This also makes it possible to stop the expansion of slums and informal settlements (Ríos & Pírez, 2008), which have become a large part of the urban landscape. This is justified by various discourses putting forth arguments such as the supposed “trickle-down effect” of the investments and, more frequently, the search for harmony and sustainability, although as Boniolo (2009) points out, The municipality, using the environmental discourse and the public-private cooperation between businesses and the State, did not make explicit its short-term objective of transforming the municipality and redirecting it to serve the interests of the classes that accumulate and hold economic capital (p. 16). Over the past several years the municipality has been a fundamental actor in promoting this model, with the help of public resources.27 Part of this public investment has been devoted to creating roads that access and connect the private gated communities, embellishing the urban landscape28 and carrying out work to extend the main networks of basic municipal services (running water and sewers) to the real estate developments. Meanwhile, for the less privileged areas this basic infrastructure remains well below what the majority of the municipalities in Greater Buenos Aires enjoy. To make matters worse, this occurs in a context of weak institutional territorial planning instruments. The municipality of Tigre does not have a spatial planning instrument that guides urban growth or the destination of public and private investment, which allows for a great deal of discretion via regulatory instruments implemented ad hoc for each development. This can be clearly seen in zoning maps of municipal land, which show that many of the gated communities are located in specific use zones, or in zones intended for industrial use; in other words, in areas incompatible with residential use. The housing policy also was inadequate for the magnitude of the municipality's housing problem (5272 houses in 2010, CNPV/ INDEC). So while after the 2001 crisis there was a period of expansion of gated communities in Tigre, between 2003 and 2009 the public housing initiatives tied to the Federal Housing Programme (31 units) (Del Río, 2011) were insignificant compared to the demand.

27 This can be heard in the words of the Sub-Secretary of Urban Planning of the Municipality during the administration of Mayor Massa, “… the main idea behind this experience and in all our management of what we carried out in Tigre, is the concept of generating the infrastructure conditions to accompany private investment”. A statement made to Radio (21/03/2009), cited by Diego Ríos, (2010: 363). 28 Which included constructing coastal parks, rehabilitating Puerto de Frutos, building plazas, installing recreation centres (Parque de la Costa and Casino), among others (Girola, 2007).

7

7.2. Environment and socio-spatial segregation The dimensions and characteristics of the new real estate products that characterize the metropolitan peripheries of Latin America complicate the classic focuses on segregation, which are centred on socio-residential and socio-economic issues. The incorporation of socio-environmental issues as a fundamental aspect of territory is key to the understanding of the new segregation in many of Latin American metropolises. According to Ríos (2012), waterfront areas have become the favoured locations for large urban projects. In Tigre, the most common model was based on polderized mega-gated communities. Following the example of gated communities in southern Florida, they were built on ecosystems that are strategic to the sustainability of the metropolitan environment (Pintos & Sgroi, 2012: p. 29). In practice these projects had a profoundly negative environmental impact that was particularly grave for Las Tunas; the construction of perimeter walls and the installation of water pumps to drain water from the private communities29 worsened the flooding effects to such an extent that they became catastrophic. Clear examples are the three floods that occurred between December 2012 and April 2013, which flooded the area adjacent to Nordelta with over half a metre of water, causing serious damages or the complete destruction of the inhabitants' few belongings. These floods sparked tension between the inhabitants of Las Tunas and Nordelta for the first time. A local newspaper wrote: “in desperation, residents broke through a piece of the huge wall of the Nordelta golf course to allow the water to go down, while from inside the country club the security guards fired their weapons in an extremely tense climate”30 (Carrasco, 2013). Paradoxically, Nordelta has its own contingency plan for natural disasters, prepared independently of public institutions and the inhabitants of the periphery slums. According to Ríos (2005, p.78), managing disasters privately not only widens the gap between the inhabitants of the gated community and its surroundings, but also increases the risk for the inhabitants of the floodplains of Tigre and the neighbouring municipalities. The floods also exacerbated the pollution problem produced by local industry that affects Las Tunas. In fact, the neighbourhood is located in an area zoned as industrial land. This is a relevant issue because it also reveals the way in which gated communities deal with their neighbours from an environmental perspective. It should be noted that Nordelta and Las Tunas share a section of the Las Tunas arroyo channel that is highly polluted by local industry, particularly by Frigorífico Rioplatense. This waterway is also quite susceptible to the effect of precipitation and tides, which can increase its flow of water 10 times above the average rate during dry periods (Serman, 2005), as well as to industrial spills and drainage of the lakes in the gated communities. Consequently, whenever the waterway overflows it increases the impact of the pollution. Nordelta's solution to the lack of state involvement is to maintain the part of the arroyo inside the gated community by building an infrastructure to filter and remove solid waste just before it enters the property (Serman, 2005). However, this increases the concentration of contaminants at this point and creates an artificial barrier to water drainage, which increases the risk of floods for the surrounding neighbourhoods.

29 According to Ríos (2005), because they are built upon polders, the gated communities in Tigre are not free from risks of flooding. 30 Carrasco (2013). Las Tunas existe. Lo que las lluvias han dejado. Actualidad de Tigre (on line). Retrieved from: www.actualidaddetigre.com.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

8

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

It is also worth noting that Frigorífico Rioplatense, located near both spaces, has a dissimilar impact on Las Tunas and Nordelta (Boniolo & Paredes, 2014). Although the ties between this company and Nordelta (both belong to the Costantini family) should facilitate coming up with solutions for the entire territory, these solutions have never arrived, because Nordelta has its own basic infrastructure and a private company to provide potable water and the rest of its sanitary services.

7.3. The socio-institutional connections between Nordelta and Las Tunas The extremely precarious circumstances of the surrounding neighbourhoods, aggravated by the country's economic and politico-institutional crisis, caused concern among Nordelta's promoters about the relations that would be established between the two areas.31 In 2001, just one year after the mega-gated community was inaugurated, an analysis of the social situation in the surrounding area made the following observation: This kind of “lindero” (bordering neighbourhood), is not the traditional “neighbour”, but rather, given the imbalanced situation of the two neighbourhoods, physical barriers, such as railway tracks, channels or arroyos, usually separate the new community from pre-existing ones. However, sooner or later the different groups will begin to interact. This interaction will occur in different ways, but probably the most obvious is in the new station that will be built on the TBA train line in front of Las Tunas, and in the Benavídez neighbourhood, where the gated community has one of its three vehicle exits (Ezcurra & Juana, 2001,p. 6). Las Tunas and its inhabitants were viewed as a threat that was dealt with by activating aid mechanisms to “help resolve their most
n Nordelta, 2012) through the creapressing problems” (Fundacio
n Nordelta in 2002, presented as a “bridge” tion of the Fundacio between the two worlds. The foundation is supported by a large organization of 40 employees and a wide social network that includes 27 delegates32
n Nordelta, from 14 neighbourhoods and 151 volunteers (Fundacio 2012). It also established a broad external network of private (foundations, corporations and other NGOs) and public actors (municipality of Tigre, the provincial government). In this socioinstitutional context diverse projects were launched in four areas: health, education, employment and community development. Its organization and resources,33 the networks it created and the political backing it received reveal an enormous capacity to carry out actions that facilitated its access to the neighbourhood. How
n Nordelta itself on the ever, the data provided by the Fundacio results of their actions reveal their true scope and raise questions about their genuine objectives. For example, in the area of community development every year around 150 people receive PROMEVI34 loans (0.3 per cent of the population). Meanwhile, in

31 In accordance with Vidal-Koppmann (2010), concern about the gap between wealthy and marginalized sectors already existed before the economic and political crisis of 2001; but the media's handling of the sacking of supermarkets, the alarming news about “hordes” potentially invading gated communities and the perceived insecurity in different settings, hastened the rise of these NGOs. The
n Nordelta was created in June 2002 and Fundacio
n Oficios [in Benavídez] Fundacio was created in November 2005. 32 It is important to underscore that the neighbourhood delegations were exclusively made up of women. 33 According to the foundation's data, it has spent around $500,000 on its projects (http://www.fundacionnordelta.org/es/nuestros-numeros.php#.U9dvf0DEC6Q). 34 Household Improvement Programme.

education the foundation provides academic support for around 500 students (5 per cent of the 10,000 children that the foundation estimates live in the neighbourhood) and around 30 students benefit from the CONBECA scholarship programme (0.3 per cent). More telling is the data on activities related to employment and training. In 2012, for example, 683 people attended courses, of which 95 found employment (1.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent of the
n Nordelta, 2012). But even population, respectively) (Fundacio more important is the type of training and the employment demand covered by Nordelta. Their annual reports and employment announcements reveal that it was training for low skill jobs, that is,
n low wage and precarious employment.35 In contrast, Fundacio Nordelta is a key instrument for families in gated communities and local companies, as the foundation identifies, selects, trains and recruits ideal candidates to work with them, above all “reliable” people. In this context, despite the supposed objective of creating a bridge between the two spaces, the social gap remains as clear as the walls that separate them. More likely, the foundation is pursuing a twofold objective: it provides residents of the gated community the opportunity to participate in charitable endeavours that because they alleviate poverty, justify social gaps, and, by extension, affirm identity elements and community ties (Girola, 2007). Meanwhile, the foundation's presence in Las Tunas facilitates the coexistence of these disparate communities through three processes. First, it presents a kinder image of Nordelta, reinforcing the perception of the mega-gated community as providing benefits such as employment and security. However, interviews with inhabitants of Las Tunas reveal that their perception of Nordelta has been changing due to the recent floods. Second, the foundation's entrance into Las Tunas allows it to understand the social climate, identify community organizations and their dynamics and come in contact with community members. Therefore it has a good handle on the neighbourhood's reality, allowing it to manage the area outside its walls, adapting its actions according to this knowledge and anticipating potential conflicts. Finally, the foundation provides benefits to the governance networks that sustain this model of metropolitan expansion: the municipality benefits from a growing tax base and the (pseudo) coverage of basic services that it does not have to provide and local businesses benefit from the management of concentrated manpower in Las Tunas. 8. Discussion and conclusions The objective of this paper was to analyse the articulations emerging from the clash between two forms of residential habitat emega gated communities and working class neighbourhoodse and evaluate their implications for contemporary debates on urban segregation in metropolitan regions. Based on an alternative focus and a complex view of urban segregation, a small-scale analysis of the emerging dynamics between both phenomena was carried out, centred on three aspects of the territory: the political-institutional context, social relations and environmental conflicts. Our case study corroborates the existence of gentrification without expulsion in the metropolitan peripheries of Latin America. However, our results contradict the supposition that this would lead to a decrease in residential segregation (Sabatini & Brain, 2008:14). This study reveals that physical proximity has not reduced the social gap and no indication was observed suggesting

35 Courses for cooks, busboy and waiter, receptionist, customer service and sales (telemarketing), administrative PC operator, logistics (warehouse worker) and
n Nordelta, 2011). electricity (Fundacio

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

that it will occur in the future. In fact, every aspect analysed reinforces the dynamics of socio-spatial segregation, giving rise to what Carman et al. (2013) describes as aggravated segregation. First of all, the analysis of the political-institutional context reveals the role of local governance in proliferating an urban planning model that accentuates territorial contradictions. The existence of Las Tunas prior to the arrival of the walled city exposes the indolence in how local authorities had managed the territory, as they seemed to deny its existence, thus revealing the differential conditions of citizenship between inhabitants of the same city depending upon where they live. The invasion of the region by the mega gated communities, favoured by that political-institutional context, produced a paradoxical situation in which closed communities enclosed a working class neighbourhood, imposing their logic of territorial fragmentation upon it. A perverse logic in which the “purified community” (Sennett, 1975) exorcises the threats associated with the poor neighbourhood, while at the same time imposes a series of conditioning factors on it that increases its vulnerability. However, they also take advantage of the “enclosed community” transforming it into a reserve of manpower for various menial jobs in the homes of the mega gated community or in the companies to which these families are tied. From the socio-institutional perspective, the creation of the
n Nordelta gave rise to a relevant institutional setting with Fundacio a great capacity to manage the relations between both spaces and to promote social cohesion. However, our results reveal that predominant among these links were asymmetries in the management of resources, power and information. This institutional framework served to legitimize the image of the city behind the wall, which had been questioned for its transformation of the landscape, the enclosure of its perimeter, the fragmentation, socio-residential segregation and the alteration of
n of daily practices. Furthermore, the objective of the Fundacio providing a bridge between both worlds has been tainted by the unidirectional link that was established in which the inhabitants of Las Tunas are passive receivers of its initiatives, all of them carried out within the limits of the neighbourhood. Furthermore, the bridges established barely pierced the physical walls that blocked the inhabitants of the neighbourhood from accessing the mega gated community. This reveals that even the creation of institutional structures that link socially heterogeneous spaces does not necessarily guarantee a decrease in urban segregation. Moreover, these results suggest that an adequate evaluation of its role in the processes of segregation requires analysing the content of the links that were built in this way. Finally, the environmental issue revealed its key role in the construction of segregation dynamics. In our case study, the impact of the mega gated communities not only perpetuated the conditions of environmental suffering (Auyero & Swistun, 2007) of the inhabitants of Las Tunas, but also imposed new threats associated with flooding and pollution. Although these polderized gated communities create a particularly intense environmental impact, the incorporation of the environmental variable in the analysis of urban segregation has consequences associated with the problem common pool resources. The proximity of such large and heterogeneous residential habitats requires considering key aspects such as the generation of waste or the pollution of the waterways and ground water. The impact of these processes always affected the actors involved very asymmetrically: it had a more severe impact on the vulnerable population, while the gated communities, such as Nordelta, had the capacity to deal with these conflicts without help from any actor outside the mega gated community. Furthermore, our case study shows that the environmental issue can cause underlying tensions in the area to emerge. Thus, since the

9

floods that occurred between 2012 and 2014, the most severely affected inhabitants of Las Tunas and the nearby neighbourhoods began to express their inconformity with the spatially unjust situations. Protests began to occur with the support of social organizations present in the municipality, leading to the presentation of a draft law36 to try and limit the authorization of gated communities in the wetlands. In conclusion, it can be said that physical proximity of extreme forms of territorial habitat sooner or later end up producing some kind of social, institutional or economic links. However, this does not necessarily lead to a reduction in segregation or greater social cohesion. On the contrary, as our study shows, the asymmetric nature of the power relations can produce conditions of subordination that end up reinforcing physical segregation. Acknowledgements The paper is a result of the research carried out under the Spanish RþD National Plan Project Revisiting the creative city: actors, factors, strategies (CSO 2013-46712-R, Principal Investigator:
Michelini), Universidad Complutense de Madrid and of Juan Jose the research projects: “Private urban planning and land manage
n River”, (Ref: ment on the wetlands of the lower basin of the Luja H598, Principal Investigator: Patricia Pintos) and “Aquatic communities. Transformations of the territory and environment derived from building polderized gated communities on the
n floodplains and wetlands of the lower basin of the Luja river” (Principal Investigator: Patricia Pintos), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. References
n. In L. Wacquant (Ed.), Parias Auyero, J. (2001). Claves para pensar la marginacio urbanos (pp. 9e31). Buenos Aires: Manantial.
fico Auyero, J., & Swistun, D. (2007). Expuestos y confundidos. Un relato etnogra sobre sufrimiento ambiental. Iconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 28, 137e152. Retrieved from http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id¼50902812.
n de vivienda en Buenos Aires y su Baer, L. (2013). Mercados de suelo y produccio
area metropolitana. tendencias recientes de desarrollo urbano y acceso a la ciudad. Revista Iberoamericana de Urbanismo, 8, 43e58. Retrieved from http:// upcommons.upc.edu/revistes/bitstream/2099/13033/1/08_03_Baer.pdf.
n, contaminacio
n y desigualdad social: figuracio
n Boniolo, P. (2009). Corrupcio
n de la estructura social en un barrio del Conurbano espacial y reproduccio
venes Investigadores, Bonaerense. In Instituto Gino Germani 5º Jornada de Jo Buenos Aires, 24. Retrieved from http://www.aacademica.com/000-089/332.pdf.
n Boniolo, P., & Paredes, D. (2014). Las consecuencias ambientales de la reproduccio
mico. Trabajo y Sociedad, 23, 407e424. Retrieved from http:// del poder econo www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/tys/n23/n23a23.pdf.
n y diferencia en la Carman, M., da Cunha, N., & Segura, R. (Eds.). (2013). Segregacio ciudad (Vol. 4). Quito: PEF e FLACSO (Chapter 1). Carrasco, M. (2013). Las Tunas existe. Lo que las lluvias han dejado. Actualidad de Tigre (on line). Retrieved from www.actualidaddetigre.com.
lisis de la política Del Río, J. P. (2011). El lugar de la vivienda social en la ciudad. Un ana habitacional desde el mercado de localizaciones intra-urbanas y las trayectorias residenciales de los habitantes (Ph.D.). La Plata (Argentina): Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
n social del espacio metropolitano. Nueva Sociedad, 243, Duhau, E. (2013). La divisio 79e91. Ezcurra, P., & Juana, C. (2001). Dos barrios linderos a Nordelta. Benavídez y Las Tunas:
n Nordelta. vivienda e infraestructura (p. 33). Buenos Aires: Fundacio
ndez Wagner, R. (2010). Transformaciones recientes del espacio residencial en el Ferna
Area Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. Políticas públicas y mercados. Paper presented at the 8º Bienal del Coloquio de Transformaciones Territoriales. Territorio y territorialidades en movimientos, Buenos Aires. Retrieved from www.augmcadr.org.ar/archivos/8va-bienal/MI.94.doc.
ndez Wagner, R., & Varela, O. (2003). Mercantilizacio
n de los servicios habFerna
n de la ciudad. Un cambio histo
rico en los patrones de itacionales y privatizacio
n residencial de Buenos Aires a partir de los '90. In A. Catenazzi, & expansio
n urbana en los 90 en la Regio
n Metropolitana de J. Lombardo (Eds.), La cuestio

36 Vecinos de Tigre buscan detener el desarrollo de los barrios privados para evitar
lam. Disponible en: http://www. inundaciones. Agencia Nacional de Noticias Te telam.com.ar/notas/201411/87178-tierras-tigre.html. Last access: 28/01/2015.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011

10

J.J. Michelini, P. Pintos / Habitat International xxx (2015) 1e10

Buenos Aires (pp. 43e74). Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento.
n Nordelta. (2011). Anuario 2010-2011. Buenos Aires. Fundacio
n Nordelta. (2012). Anuario 2011-2012, Buenos Aires. Fundacio
n Nordelta en la Regio
n Girola, M. F. (2007). El surgimiento de la mega-urbanizacio Metropolitana de Buenos Aires: consideraciones en torno a las nociones de
ficos y Urbanos, ciudad-fragmento y comunidad purificada. Estudios Demogra 22(2), 363e397. Retrieved from http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa? id¼31222204.
n MetropoliInfohabitat. (2009). Base de datos de Villas y Asentamientos de la Regio tana de Buenos Aires. International Monetary Fund. (2011). World economic outlook database Accessed 04.05.15. Marchesotti, E., & Said, S. (2006). Estudio de las necesidades y percepciones del
n Nordelta. entorno. Barrio Las Tunas (p. 35). Buenos Aires: Fundacio Pintos, P., & Narodowski, P. (Eds.). (2012). La privatopía sacrílega. Efectos del
n. Buenos Aires: Imago Mundi. urbanismo privado en la cuenca baja del río Luja Pintos, P., & Sgroi, A. M. (2012). Efectos del urbanismo privado en humedales de la
n, 4,
n. Estudio de la mega-urbanizacio
n San Sebastia cuenca baja del Río Luja 24e48. Retrieved from http://revistas.unlp.edu.ar/domus/article/view/432/484. Ríos, D. M. (2002). Vulnerabilidad, urbanizaciones cerradas e inundaciones en el partido de Tigre durante el período 1990-2001 (Bachelor thesis). Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires.
n urbana privada y desastres de inundacio
n: las Ríos, D. M. (2005). Planificacio urbanizaciones ceradas polderizadas en el municipio de Tigre, Buenos Aires. Economía, Sociedad y Territorio, 5(17), 63e83.
n de las Ríos, D. M. (2009). Espacio urbano y riesgo de desastres: la expansio urbanizaciones cerradas sobre
areas inundables de Tigre (Argentina). Ambiente & Sociedade, 12(1), 99e114.
n de espacio de riesgo de desastres a partir de la Ríos, D. M. (2010). Produccio


reas inundables. Los ban
n de a ~ ados de Tigre, su historia y sus urbanizacio transformaciones recientes (PhD in Geography). Universidad de Buenos Aires.
logo. In P. Pintos, & P. Narodowski (Eds.), La privatopía sacRíos, D. M. (2012). Pro rílega (pp. 1e11). Buenos Aires: Imago Mundi.
reas inundables del Ríos, D. M., & Pírez, P. (2008). Urbanizaciones cerradas en a
n de espacio urbano de alta calidad ambiental? municipio de Tigre: ¿produccio EURE, 34(101), 99e119.
n residencial socioecono
mica: ¿qu

mo Rodríguez Vignoli, J. (2001). Segregacio e es?, ¿co
pasando?, ¿importa?. Serie Poblacio
n y desarrollo. CEPAL. se mide?, ¿qu
e esta Santiago de Chile CEPAL.
n Residencial en la Ciudad Rodríguez Vignoli, J., & Arriagada, C. (2004). Segregacio Latinoamericana. EURE, 30(89), 5e24.
n social del espacio en las ciudades de Am
Sabatini, F. (2006). La segregacio erica Latina. Washington D.C: BID. Retrieved from http://www.iadb.org.
n, los guetos y la integracio
n social Sabatini, F., & Brain, I. (2008). La segregacio urbana: mitos y claves. EURE, 34(103), 5e26.
n sin expulsio
n, o la Sabatini, F., Sarella, M., & V
azquez, H. (2008). Gentrificacio
rica. Revista, 180(24), 18e25. ciudad latinoamericana en una encrucijada histro Sennett, R. (1975). Vida urbana e identidad personal. Barcelona: Península.
n ambiental del arroyo Las Tunas (p. 122). Buenos Aires: Serman, y A. (2005). Gestio Municipalidad de Tigre.
n social. Paper presented at the Torres, H. (1998). Procesos recientes de fragmentacio Seminario El nuevo milenio y lo urbano, Buenos Aires.
n sin urbanismo. De la ‘legalidad” de la Vidal-Koppmann, S. (2010). Urbanizacio
n popular. Nuevos empresa desarrolladora a la “ilegalidad” de la apropiacio
n. Scripta Nova, 14(83). (viejos) desafíos para un urbanismo de concertacio Retrieved from http://www.ub.edu/geocrit/sn/sn-331/sn-331-83.htm. White, M. (1983). The measurement of spatial segregation. American Journal of Sociology, 88(5), 1008e1018.

Please cite this article in press as: Michelini, J. J., & Pintos, P., Metropolitan expansion and new socio-spatial segregation scenarios in contemporary Argentina. The case of Nordelta-Las Tunas (Buenos Aires), Habitat International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.habitatint.2015.08.011