La ciudad de San Juan: imaginarios de las reconstrucciones inconclusas.

In the cities, like territorialities in movement, utopias, constraints and needs resulting from social practices intertwine. Permanently residents, government institutions and the dynamics of communication are building different urban imaginaries. Some of them are reiterated and become predominant senses that define and enforce an hegemonic territoriality.

To illustrate these ideas, we explore the case of the city of San Juan (Argentina), where, since the mid-20th century it becomes visible a recurring speech about the need of its urban reconstruction.

Reconstruction of the city is present as a Government project in two key moments of the provincial history: in 1944 due to a natural disaster, and in 2001 for the social and economic collapse of the country. In both moments the processes linked to the political, social relationships and knowledge generated imaginaries that contributed to the material and symbolic appropriation of urban territories. We analyze these symbolic representations exploring sources of official and private files as well as the speeches of the local press and key informants in order to unveil the imaginaries of the city.

We believe that reconstruction proposals in San Juan repeat the same urban settings, the sense of official place, that is to say, there is a tendency to reproduce the interests of groups and the territories of power, leaving aside possible plural production of the city. An attempt to greater citizen participation should replace paternalistic state planning process, for another one that makes dialogue as the core and basis of the entire process of projection of the city (Ramirez 1998).