- Transport as an integrative / disintegrative Factor in urban Regions. The case of La Plata City, Argentina    1004 kb by    Olga, Ravella & Nora, Giacobbe & Julieta, Frediani | ororavella@yahoo.com.ar    Short Outline The implementation of the railway allowed the development of cities in Argentina, as a factor of integration, in the framework of an agroexport economy. The neoliberal policies, considered as a disintegrative factor in urban regions are analysed. Abstract The implementation of the railway between 1850 and 1930 allowed the development of many cities in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and the foundation of La Plata city in 1882. This mean of transport enabled the integration of the region’s inhabitants with the capital of Argentine, in the framework of an agroexport economy. The neoliberal policies carried out since 1976, when the Military Government took power in Argentine, impelled the destruction of thousands of kilometres of railroads, among others. This process caused the disappearance of towns whose population increased the poor peripheries of big and intermediate cities, for instance of La Plata city. Another fact to be considered is the increase in the number of vehicles since the 1960s, when the automobile industry was established in the region and facilities were promoted for purchase, resulting in the so called “urban-automobile model”. This model allowed an uncontrollable urban sprawl that was intensified since 1980, due to the following phenomenon: on the one hand, the emergence of real estate sectors that became privileged actors of the urban development, and on the other hand the reappearance of illegal occupations in large extensions of the territory. Both phenomenons are competing in the same spaces structured by the main axes of communication, causing social segregation in a shared territory. In this context, the paper analyses the social, economic and space integration/disintegration of a planned city of the XIX century (La Plata) that was positioned in the international scenario through an integrated transport system. Political and manager decisions, that contributed to weaken the foundational principles, are causing the loss of this position. An analysis of the integrative/disintegrative urban forces process is presented at three historical moments corresponding to its respective economic cycles. Keywords transport - urban integration-disintegration Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2006: Cities between Integration and Disintegration   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper