John Friedmann: um “expert” em planejamento regional na América Latina

Abstract

This paper is about the circulation of ideas, concepts and experiences in urban and regional planning in the international circuit of technical cooperation for development context, and focuses on the work and ideas of John Friedmann. After the World War II, an institutional apparatus for international assistance is organized. Its is composed of a network of international organizations, public and private (United Nations, Ford Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation), assistance programs (Point IV, Partners in Progress) and financing agencies (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank). In this context, Latin America fits into the privileged circuit of international experts engaged in the mission of cooperation and technical assistance to underdeveloped regions. These experts contribute to international flow of ideas and concepts related to regional planning for development. This work thinks about the flow of ideas and international concepts from the study the John Friedmann’s work developed during his stay in Latin America. John Friedmann has extensive contribution to the development of the theories and practices related to the urban and regional planning in Latin America. He worked as an international consultant and professor in Brazil (1955-58), Venezuela (1961 65) and Chile (1965-69). Therefore, this paper aims to expose the Friedmann's theoretical approaches, as the course of his ideas, the continuities, the displacements and transformations of the concepts when transferring from a political and cultural context to another; and to understand how the ideas and the concepts were put into practice during his professional contribution in the field of urban and regional planning in Latin America.