The Territorial Perspective in Understanding Inequality

In his contribution to our course Jack Couriel, Uruguay’s former Deputy Minister of Housing, Territorial Organisation, and the Environment (Vivienda, Ordenamiento Territorial y Medio Ambiente), addresses the inequality question from a socio-urbanistic perspective, drawing on the example of Greater Montevideo, the urban area around the Uruguayan capital in which more than half of the country’s population resides.

Mr. Couriel sketches a map of socio-urban fragmentation and discusses its implications: inter alia for educational access and attainment levels among young people, and for public safety, health, and services. On this basis he invites us to reflect on how public policies that take territoriality into account can be more effective in addressing inequalities.