Desarrollo urbano y desigualdad en Bahía Blanca

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe the problem of inequality and its relationship with the urban situation in Bahía Blanca City, especially in those aspects that have to do with housing conditions and facilities and in certain differences that are not related to the economic situation. In order to understand how urban development influences in people behaviour, this work introduces "City Differences" key-words to expresson-material differences among the citizens. Labour market broken structure, internal migration, as well as that coming from bordering nations, the national economical crisis, fundamental changes in the most important productive activities (those that were formerly based on agriculture and have been turned towards the industrial development of petrochemistry) and its associations with the social space division, are analized as some of the reasons that determine complexity in inequality (in the economical and cultural aspects) in social structure. This outline refers, first of all, to the macro-social aspects that urban development impact had on Bahía Blanca and it is based on a research work carried out by the Local Government and the Geography Department of The National University of the South (UNS), describing the development of the city during the last decades. Furthermore, it will explain how the social structure has been modified taking into account the most classical indicators, such as occupation, education, etc., especially those which are more important in people ́s opinion. The data is the product of survey made on specific groups of people, as well as statistics data, and gives a picture of the situation of poverty.