Mc. Melo, STATE RETREAT, GOVERNANCE AND METROPOLITAN RESTRUCTURING IN BRAZIL, International journal of urban and regional research, 19(3), 1995, pp. 342
This paper discusses the ongoing process of urban restructuring in Bra
zil. it argues that the 1980s marks historically the demise of the pat
tern of state intervention in urban areas that was established under t
he military regime (1964-85). The relationships between the ongoing ur
ban restructuring and the broader processes of economic stagnation and
of rebuilding of democratic institutions is explored with a focus on
the fragmentation of interests and low institutionalization of the pol
itical system. This latter theme is examined empirically in connection
to the fiscal collapse of urban and housing policy. The points of con
vergence and divergence with processes of urban restructuring in the a
dvanced capitalist societies is also discussed.