and formalization: The Case of Mexico City

This paper on appropriations of urban space locates societal interdependence inside the urban society of Mexico City. According to Hardoy and Satterthwaite (1987), interdependency between habitants provided with unequal access to goods and services is physically inscribed in urban space of Latin American metropolis and can be traced back until colonial times: “Muchos de los asentamientos y barrios de los pobres están físicamente segregados de la “ciudad legal”, como lo estuvieron bajo el dominio colonial, pero la mano de obra, los bienes y los servicios baratos que proveen los habitantes de esos barrios, son fundamentales para la economía de la ciudad”(14). Yet, this perspective reflects the dominant view of informality as the “darker side ” of formality or legality. The present paper intends to outline a research project that questions this dualism: How can the formalization of dwelling be conceptualized as historically embedded socio-political relation of inequality producing the city?1 By speaking of “producing ” the city I refer not only to a construction of the city in a material way, but also of constructing norms and technical knowledge by social, political and economical actors. This three-levelled perspective shall be operated by