Transnationalization of urban policy in Brazil: from the local inters of municipalities in the urban planning to the global agenda

Abstract

This article aims to study the transnationalization of Urban Law in the scope of Municipal urban policy. Its hypothesis is that, since the Master Plan, of municipal competence in Brazil, has the political function of stipulating the application of urban intervention instruments, these two trends - the internationalization of urban planning principles and the municipalization of planning - complement each other in the theoretical plan of Law. Specific objectives: i) to study the constitutionalization of Urban Policy in Brazil, focusing mainly on the issue of the division of competences for its execution among the federative entities by the 1988 Constitution; ii) to analyze critically the phenomenon of transnormativity when focused on the realization of Urban Policy in Brazil. Results: i) urban planning in Brazil is of competing competence between the Union (which outlines general norms) and its Municipalities (which are responsible for urban planning through the Master Plan) - but this constitutional establishment finds the context of globalized cities, increasingly integrated with transnational precepts, which require municipalities to manage urban areas to meet requirements established by rentiers and non-local interests; ii) strategic urban planning, based on corporate governance precepts, adopts measures that make the city’s economic capacity to build a salable image to global investments synonymous with efficiency - and thus the image of commodity city is the way that Municipalities have to obtain the “privilege” of competing for resources. Methodology: hypothetical-deductive procedure method, with qualitative approach and bibliographic-documentary research technique.