The (in)visible faces of urban regeneration: Riachuelo Street and the production of a gentrified scenario

Abstract

Urban regeneration projects have become an important research field. There is a concern about interpreting the displacement of urban meanings and the consequences of a silent social and cultural substitution, which have been naturalizing urban ennoblement as a strategy to manage the city’s image. In this paper, the project “New Center”, developed in the city of Curitiba (Southern Brazil) is analyzed, focusing specifically on changes that have been occurring in Riachuelo Street since 2009. Contributions from Hamnnet (2003), Smith (2002; 2006), Vargas and Castillo (2009), among others, are explored. In a scenario that has not been completely remade, Riachuelo Street presents sensitive impacts, although they are not fully visible, from a process in which gentrification is used as an urban policy instrument that supports sociospatial, cultural and economic remodeling.