Neoliberal Local Governance. Three Critical Concepts when Analyzing the Contemporary Urban Planning

This review article aims to systematize and integrate three key concepts in the current urban theory, i.e., governance, local extent, and urban neoliberalism. The purpose is to build an analytical framework for the necessary critical revision of the contemporary urban planning policies inspired in post-industrial developmental narratives that have become "trends" and are circulating strongly among the decision-makers and scholars without any questioning. This work is carried out based on information search and different researches addressing three specific examples: Bilbao Ria 2000, 22@Barcelona, and the Buenos Aires City economic districts. This work is intended as a contribution to the discussion and contextualization of how these concepts are applied in the analysis of different cases in latitudes and different ways of political-economic organization. It also contributes to the reflection on the need to refocus these kinds of urban local policies.