The production of an unequal territory in Argentina. Concentration, primacy and macrocephaly

Abstract

Argentina is a country with deep territorial inequalities, as a result of the dynamics of capitalist accumulation. The location of activities, population, infrastructure and services shows a historically rooted heterogeneity, corresponding with the territorial occupation logic that was consolidated throughout the different developmental models. This paper revisits the concepts of urban concentration, primacy and macrocephaly, and then compares them with the processes of production of territory, of territorial concentration around the country’s central area, and of urban primacy and macrocephaly of Greater Buenos Aires, which, together with Greater Rosario and Greater Córdoba, concentrates more than 40% of the Argentinian population. The plans and projects of public policies that intended and intend to change the territorial heterogeneity and inequality are revised under the premise that there are limits within the current system and political project. Although important transformations have been accomplished in recent years, including institutionalising urban and spatial planning, the achievements have been limited, and they have not managed to substantially modify the situation.