The capitalist production of space and the entrepreneurial management of urban policy: the case of PBH Ativos S/A

Abstract

The capitalist production of space is currently linked directly to the practical rationality of neoliberalism, functioning as the world’s new rationality, that organizes and determines government actions on various scales. Based on this logic, it implements actions aimed at meeting the demands and imperatives of the reproduction of capital. It is within this context that we may insert the management of Belo Horizonte under the command of Márcio Lacerda (2008-2016), and which clearly began to implement the intensification of neoliberal logic into both the production of space and the management of public policy. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss a case involving a company created and developed by Lacerda’s administration, called PBH Ativos S/A, under the paradigm of urban entrepreneurialism, and to analyze the manner in which Lacerda’s government turned towards the business management of municipal urban policy.

Keywords:
urban entrepreneurialism; urban policy; Belo Horizonte; Neoliberalism; production of space; business management