Commodification in Urban Planning: Exploring the Habitus of Practitioners in a Neoliberal Context

Francisco Vergara-Perucich () and Martin Arias-Loyola
Additional contact information
Francisco Vergara-Perucich: Núcleo Centro Producción del Espacio, Universidad de las Américas-Chile, Providencia 7500975, Chile

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: The concept of habitus, as introduced by Pierre Bourdieu, serves as a lens to understand the subjective dispositions and perceptions that influence decision-making within the social realm. This study delves into the intricate relationship between urban planners’ habitus and the commodification processes inherent in a neoliberal society. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 27 Chilean urban planners, this research identifies typologies that capture their disciplinary stances on three pivotal urbanism facets: the city’s conceptualization, the nuances of urban practice, and visions of utopia. A salient finding is the palpable tension urban planners experience, torn between the aspiration to foster a well-conceived city and the commodifying forces that shape decision-making. This commodification of the planner’s ethos emerges as a byproduct of entrenched neoliberal institutional practices. This study delineates three distinct habitus typologies: the public, private, and academic urban planner, each exhibiting varied perspectives on the commodification of urban planning. Collectively, these insights shed light on the profound ways in which neoliberal paradigms influence urban planning, revealing both its disciplinary boundaries and inherent contradictions.

Keywords: habitus; theme analysis; neoliberalism; urban planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/1/22/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/1/22/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:22-:d:1307794

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().