CONFLICT, VIOLENCE AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CITIES

Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) cities have grown from conflict. Conflict and its frequent outcome, violence, started in LAC countries even earlier than the colonial period and the independence wars. Since then, it has not stopped, with several civil wars and conflicts, arguably fueled by inequality due to lack of political, social and economic opportunities for many, particularly for vulnerable communities. Conflict, violence and inequality have been a triad that has shaped rural and urban areas in the region, in rural areas generating displacement that has acted as a motor for urbanization and urban growth, contributing to the expansion of informal urban settlements. This chapter reviews conflict, violence and inequality in Latin American and Caribbean cities, arguing how they have shaped urban areas with implications in terms of appropriations and territorialities in this unequal, fragmented, plural and diverse region.