Coproducing Sustainable Urbanization in Rosario: Building Cooperation Between Formal and Informal Systems for Urban Development and Climate Resilience.

Abstract

Rosario is the third biggest urban agglomeration in Argentina, where its urbanization processes demonstrate diverse physical and climatic unsustainability. The formal development, rooted in the Spanish grid, has shown efficacy in fostering urban growth, but the current repercussions of climate change—manifested in heat islands and urban floods—cast doubt upon its viability. In contrast, informal development, shaped by underused railway infrastructure, though presenting challenges in physical development, showcases systemic-adaptable characteristics that can offer innovation to design climate resilience strategies. This thesis examines the unsustainable relationship between formal urbanization and climate change, as well as informal urbanization and physical urban development. It rejects the reinforcement or romanticization of the formal-informal dichotomy, instead advocating for collaboration between both systems through urban design. Hence, the coproduced city emerges as a process grounded in two actions to achieve sustainable urbanization: formalizing the informal for physical development and informalizing the formal for climatic adaptation.