Dossier of the First Workshop on Urban Studies of the University of Costa Rica

Abstract

The urban problems that currently face the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica are the product of historical trajectories that have strengthened the spatial inequalities of its population in areas such as access to housing, transport options, security, work and leisure. Although Costa Rican urban studies have been prolific over the years, their characteristic dispersion has made it difficult to analyze the political, social, cultural and economic dynamics that have conditioned the urban development of GAM in the long term forgetting its effects, as well, in rural areas of the country. Hence, the call for the First Workshop on Urban Studies of the University of Costa Rica was held in order to bring researchers, urban groups and decision-makers close together to discuss the perspectives and approaches that characterize the actual current of urban studies. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the results of the various discussion tables and complementary activities that took place between 17 and 21 June 2019, as well as to propose some guidelines that could lead to the realization of future activities like this and the establishment of a network of urban studies in Central America.