Governance and Planning: A Critical Approach to the Technologies of Government in Urban Spaces

This study is situated in the context of contemporary Latin American urbanism and critically addresses the relationship between governmentality and planning in the cities of Quetzaltenango (Guatemala), Maracaibo (Venezuela), and Cuenca (Ecuador). Based on Foucault's theoretical approach to governmentality, the study analyzes how technologies of government are articulated in urban space, affecting its morphology, social dynamics, and planning. Using a qualitative, hermeneutic methodology focused on the conceptual analysis of key texts and a critical reading of urban policy documents, the study investigates the ways in which the cities studied respond to the challenges of global urbanization. The most important consequence of the study is the urgent need to reconfigure urban public policies based on emancipatory logics adapted to the realities of the Global South. In conclusion, on the one hand, it is emphasized that criticism must be transformed into operational guidelines for reconfiguring technologies of government that enable citizens' right to the city, everyday security, and sustainability in specific Latin American contexts. Furthermore, it is highlighted that the effectiveness of urban planning in Latin America depends on a critical understanding of governmentality, capable of recognizing the historical, political, and social specificities of each city.