SPECULATIVE AUTO-PRODUCTION OF URBAN SPACE: Discretionary Legality, Speculation and Exclusion in Auto-Produced Neighbourhoods in Lima, Peru

Torres-Obregon D. · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (2026) · DOI: 10.1111/1468-2427.70096

Resumen

This article examines how the commodification of urban space is reshaping popular urbanization in Lima. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two neighbourhoods, I propose the concept of ‘speculative auto-production of urban space’. This concept captures how vulnerable households meet housing needs while also engaging in speculation as a survival strategy—what I call ‘speculation from below’. The analysis reveals three interrelated dimensions. First, land serves as both a commodity and a form of social insurance. Second, discretionary legality allows for the instrumental use of regulations. Third, everyday practices help legitimize speculative relations. Critically, for-profit intermediaries exploit households’ needs, operating through both formal and informal institutions. Residents do not resist speculation; instead, they integrate into it because land addresses both labour precarity and state retrenchment. The novel framework, which connects structural factors to lived experiences, informs comparative discussions where informality, commodification and speculation intertwine.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú