Federal University of ABC (UFABC), Brazil
Dr Camila Saraiva is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) Laboratory for Urban and Regional Studies and Projects (LEPUR). She is an urban planner with interests in urban inequality, informal settlements, housing, comparative urbanism, (southern) urban theory and practices. Her current project is a transcalar comparison of the trajectory of slum upgrading policies and its results in São Paulo (Brazil), Medellin (Colombia), and Buenos Aires (Argentina). Three cities wherein national and municipal slum upgrading policies, particularly from the 2000s, has been attracting much international attention. She aims, firstly, to understand the idiosyncrasies of slum upgrading policies in each city, one to another and vis-à-vis international circuits of development aid. Secondly, to explore how these policies have been contributing to more integrated and equal cities.
By investigating a variety of political and territorial dynamics at work in and across cases, she expects to produce detailed narratives of slum upgrading that question broadcasted policy models. Squatting is an essential aspect of most southern or peripheral urbanisms. Understanding the politics and territorial effects of slum upgrading can be of great value to leverage forward-looking policy actions towards more just, inclusive and sustainable cities.