Counteracting the Neoliberal City by Michaela De Marco

Counteracting the Neoliberal City by Michaela De Marco

This book presents a groundbreaking theoretical and methodological framework for analyzing urban phenomena and urban policies and a pioneering approach to urban regeneration projects. The text advocates for an “Integral and Recognitive Urban Regeneration” of public spaces in cities to confront current neoliberal urban policies, which have been ineffective in achieving genuine overall “wellbeing” in contemporary urban environments.

“Integral and Recognitive Urban Regeneration” is a macro-process composed of several micro-contextualized urban projects that account for the complexity of urban spaces. This process goes beyond merely enhancing the aesthetics and functionality of architectural spaces, rather presenting itself as an educational, community-oriented, cooperative, creative, socializing, eco-friendly, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary process that serves as a platform for regenerating compromised ecosystems; promoting the cognitive, psychological, emotional, social, and political empowerment of resident communities; and addressing local and global forms of social and ecological injustice.

As such, this book is an essential resource for students, researchers, academics, and experienced planners alike.

Michaela De Marco is an Italian academic currently working as a university teacher in Anáhuac University (Mexico). She is a member of the National Research System (SNII) under the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (SECIHTI) of the Government of Mexico.

Michaela earned her doctorate in “Science in Architecture and Urbanism” from the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico (IPN-ESIA Tecamachalco). Her thesis focused on urban regeneration.

She is currently conducting post-doctoral research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, Mexico) on a project titled “Integral, Participatory, and Recognitive Urban Regeneration of Public Spaces for Children and Adolescents in Mexico City as a Tool for Political Empowerment and Psychosocial-Emotional Support for Children and Adolescents in Situations of Socioeconomic Marginalization.” The main goal of this project is to develop a theoretical and methodological framework for the integral and recognitive regeneration of public spaces in Mexico City involving children and adolescents. Additionally, she is managing a pilot project called “Regeneration of Daily Spaces with Public Schools in Mexico City” at a primary public school. This initiative takes place once a week, where students design and implement three different architectural projects within their school. These students’ projects are facilitated through educational activities, with the support of their teachers and an external multidisciplinary team comprising two architects and engineers, three urban planners, two pedagogues, and a child psychologist. The objectives of this project include creating more sustainable urban spaces, enhancing students’ knowledge and skills, fostering their well-being, encouraging critical, creative, and activist thinking, and empowering them politically. This project aims to support the work of NGOs engaged in participatory urban projects with children in Mexico. Additionally, it contributes to the goals outlined in the National Development Plan, the Agenda 2030, and the National Strategic Program from the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (PRONACES). It also facilitates the alignment of the Mexican legal framework with international conventions and laws.

Michaela De Marco has an educational background in African and Middle Eastern languages and history, political science, social cognition, sociology, and film. She has lived in nine countries, working as a language teacher, editor-in-chief of an Italian magazine in Cairo, flight attendant, and freelance journalist. Michaela is also the director of a documentary film that explores post-revolutionary trauma in Egypt following the Arab Spring, titled “Traffic Jam Between 2 Revolutions” (Soldini Production). These diverse life experiences have equipped Michaela De Marco with the skills to approach her work from transdisciplinary perspectives.

In academia, she has participated in numerous workshops and national and international conferences, and she has published several papers on social and socio-urban imaginaries, urban projects, and urban regeneration.