While Latin America is one of the most urbanized regions in the world,
unequal access to the benefits of development is still extremely high.
This lecture will analyze territorial inequalities in Latin America
that emerge as a result of unadapted urbanization processes, unplanned
or poorly planned urban growth and development models. It will reflect
on the impact of these development models on territorial occupation
and the rights of individuals and communities in cities which often
underly residential segregation and, thereby, reconstruct
socio-spatial fragmentation – a phenomenon which could also be
reproduced by planned relocation.
In this sense, the lecture will consider how consensual relocation
could operate in the context of climate change and disasters to reduce
these inequalities. Proposing the concept of territorial justice
enables us to make the right to a safe environment an integral part of
urban planning. At the same time, it could provide a key tool for
territorial democratization if the full participation of individuals
and communities in the construction of their personal and collective
life projects will be guaranteed.
Since 1998, Raquel Lejtreger has worked in the field of architecture
at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University
of the Republic in Uruguay, with extensive training and experience in
disaster risk management, land use and urban planning. She was the
former Vice-Minister of Housing, Land Management and Environment under
president José Mujica in Uruguay. At this time, she was also a
ministerial advisor and coordinator for drafting the Uruguayan
National Housing Plan 2010-2014, which included the National
Relocation Plan for families located on flood-prone and/or
contaminated land. With more than 15 years of experience in the
coordination of inter-institutional projects involving participatory
processes in the territory, she has been a consultant for various
programmes and projects of international organisations, universities
and civil society organisations on disaster risk management, climate
change and other issues related to sustainable development since 2015.
She was part of the team that, with the support of the United Nations
Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), elaborated the first
Regional Report on the state of Disaster Risk Reduction in the
Americas and the Caribbean (RAR2021).
Raquel is also a visual artist and human rights activist.
Online participants can join the event via the following Zoom link: univienna.zoom.us/j/67377439580
Meeting-ID: 673 7743 9580
Kenncode: 567538
In case you experience any symptoms or were tested positive for Covid, please only join uns online.
