THE OCCUPATION’S LOGIC OF URBAN SPACE. A STUDY OF CONTRASTING REALITIES. THE CASE OF THE GATED COMMUNITIES AND SLUMS IN YERBA BUENA, GRAN SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMÁN

Abstract

From a socio-spatial view, one of the most important changes occurred in the urban structure of the Gran San Miguel de Tucumán -GSMT-, since the 1970s, has been the change in expansion`s pattern . The main objective of this paper lies in studying and comparing the occupation´s logic of urban space beginning with the analysis of the slums -S- and gated communities -GC- in the Municipio Yerba Buena -MYB-, taking into account the participation of this Municipio in the conformation process of the GSMT. As starting point it takes the 1970s, at this moment the expansion of the city to its periphery was strong, mainly characterized by the increase of the S along with the emergence of the first GC. Urban sprawl has an exponential growth of GC while the area occupied by S is almost unchanged.
The most significant contrast in the MYB is represented by the coexistence of GC and S. The GC has a rapidly growing trend and lead the expansion by occupying large extensions of land.  The increase of S, on the contrary, is meager taking into account their growth in the rest of GSMT. However, many of these GC and S are located in their proximities, the socio-economic distance between their inhabitants is widening, increasing the gap between the both groups.