Non-metropolitan cities in Latin American urban studies: between ‘trickle-down urban theory’ and ‘singularisation theory’

Abstract

Non-metropolitan cities are subject to growing attention in Latin American urban studies. However, there is no research that critically analyses the territorial, epistemological and methodological approaches that have been adopted within this line of academic work. This article deals with this knowledge gap, arguing that specialised literature tends to approach non-metropolitan places as mini-metropolises that replicate urban phenomena observed in large cities on a lesser scale or as unique places that are unexplained by existing urban theory. We refer respectively to these two tendencies as ‘trickle-down urban theory’ and ‘singularisation theory’, and examine their impact on Latin American urban studies in spatial, epistemological and methodological terms. The article ends by suggesting a research agenda based on comparative studies of cities of differing sizes as a way to generate a more integrative urban theory.