Fragmentation and Assemblage: A multi-scale study on Latin American informal settlements

This thesis examines the fragmentation processes produced by informal dynamics in the city from a multiscale perspective, on different Latin American informal settlements. These settlements are analyzed from the theoretical perspective of urban assemblage. This theory argues that a wide range of rhythms structured by morphologies and socio-spatial networks act simultaneously in the functioning of the city, influencing its productive and spatial dynamics. The observation of these processes in informal settlements has greater visibility from the study of their evolutionary development, forms of connection and productive modes. These processes are significant in urban studies, influencing the outcome of morphological, economic and socio-spatial dynamics that foster urban fragmentation.

The objective of the thesis is the identification of the morphological and socio-spatial structures that produce urban fragmentation in Latin American informal settlements. These structures are examined from the point of view of the processes of adaptability and interconnection, two frequent processes in the development of informal structures. Their study allows understanding the urban fragmentation phenomena produced between the informal settlement and the city.

As a method, the inclusion of case studies offers a wide variety of informal urban phenomena. These cases frame differentiated problems according to their cultural, economic and territorial conditions. The cases of Lima, Medellín, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo and Buenos Aires examine the fragmentation between the informal settlement and the city from a macro level. Meanwhile, the cases of Iquique, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Medellin, San Diego and Cape Town in South Africa present a microscale analysis of the fragmentations produced between urban-architectural interventions and the informal settlement.

The results reveal socio-spatial deficiencies in the interstitial configuration processes between the informal settlement and the adjacent urban fabric, leading to its segregation and isolation. These deficiencies are caused by the lack of management during the initial evolutionary transformation of the informal settlement. This thesis also offers corrective actions from a multi-scale perspective, combining the development of urban planning actions with the use of informal dynamics as instruments that promote urban assembly systems. These systems are explored from two aspects: through the optimization of morphogenic transformation processes in settlements; and through the promotion of adaptability and interconnection tactics between the informal settlement and planned interventions. The conclusions presented present recommendations aimed at developing instruments to improve the territorial integration of the informal fabric with the city.