The Right to the City Between the Revolutionary Proposal and the State Guarantee

Abstract

The right to the city emerged as a proposal to reclaim urban space in the cities of late capitalism during the late twentieth century. However, as it began to be considered part of the rights guaranteed by the State or as slogans developed by international organizations like UN-Habitat, its original intention —reclaiming the faculties for space construction that urban inhabitants possess or possessed— became distorted.

Currently, the right to the city, as seen in Ecuadorian legislation or constitutional decrees, is framed within the discourse of political practices for city management and administration. These practices recognize the social and environmental problems caused by urban life rhythms to ensure a type of "urban welfare." In this context, concepts such as urban sustainability or city resilience are imposed as public policies aimed at achieving the so-called "right to the city."

Nonetheless, the right to the city has been stripped of its revolutionary character, becoming a guideline that perpetuates the inequality conditions of the capitalist system in urban spaces.