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Books

"Polarization often results from deficient forms of social belonging, caused primarily by stark social inequalities. These inequalities then generate psychological responses that both create and worsen polarization. Yet social stability is possible. In this provocative and original book, Nilson Ariel Espino argues that our current ideological polarizations can be best analyzed as springing from the contradictions of modernity and its obsessions. Using culture as a founding and organizing dimension, the author disassembles the typical dichotomies of left versus right, or conservatism versus progressivism, and reveals the opposing sides as mutually interdependent positions that struggle with cultural paradoxes they are ill-suited to address. Written with clarity and verve for the general reader, this book brings classic concepts of cultural anthropology to bear on the key preoccupations of today's world, from poverty and inequality, to political instability and the environmental crisis."

"Urban segregation is one of the main challenges facing urban development around the globe. The usual outcome of many urban development patterns is an unequal social geography, with the urban poor living in large clusters that are remote, isolated, dangerous or unhealthy. The result is inequality in a number of dimensions of urban life, from deficient urban access, services or infrastructure to social isolation, neighbourhood violence, and lack of economic opportunity.

 

This book brings together debates on ethnic and economic segregation, combining theory and practical solutions to create a guide for those trying to understand and address urban segregation in any part of the world, and integrate ameliorating policies to contemporary urban development agendas."

Book chapters

2016                Urban Conservation and Social Inclusion. In, Architectural Conservation in Asia: National
                          Experiences   and Practice
, edited by John Stubbs and Robert Thomson. London: Routledge.

2013                Introduction to the chapter on “Land Use and Urban Redevelopment”, of the book Políticas de suelo     
                          urbano.
Perspectivas internacionales para América Latina, edited by Martim Smolka and Laura        
                          Mullahy. Cambridge: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. (Book with translations to Spanish of 40 articles
                           of Land Lines magazine).   

2010               The Development of Affordable Housing in the Historic Center of Panama City: Searching for New
                          Models of Economic Development and Social Integration. In, Shrinking cities South/North, edited by
                          Ivonne Audirac and Jesús Arroyo Alejandre. Zapopan and Los Angeles: Florida State University, 
                          Universidad de Guadalajara, UCLA Program on Mexico, Profmex/World & Juan Pablos Editor.

2005               Inequality, Segregation, and Housing Markets: The U.S. Case. In Desegregating the City: Ghettos,
                          Enclaves, and Inequality
, edited by David P. Varady. Albany: State University of New York Press.

1991                Proyectos de Vivienda Pública en el Corregimiento de El Chorrillo. Un Breve Recuento Crítico. (“Public 
                          Housing Projects in El Chorrillo District. A Brief Critical Review”). In El Chorrillo: Situación Actual y
                          Alternativas
. Cuadernos Nacionales No. 9, Instituto de Estudios Nacionales, Panama: Universidad de
                          Panamá.

2021               Research Report with Brian Leung, Charlotte Steeves, and Shriram Varadarajan.  La cobertura de 

árboles de la ciudad de Panamá:  Cuantificación, comparaciones internacionales y perspectivas (The Tree Cover of Panama City: Quantification, International Comparisons, and Perspectives). Panamá: Foro y observatorio urbano.

 

2020             Teorizando una ciudad más humana (“Theorizing a more human city”).  

                        Investigación y pensamiento crítico, Vol. 8, No. 2, May – Aug., pp. 99 – 109.

 

2018              Research Report, with Barret Hedges: La adaptación de las redes viales para fortalecer el uso del  

                        transporte público en el área metropolitana de Panamá. (The Adaptation of Road Networks for

Transit Use in the Panama Metropolitan Region).  Panamá: Foro y observatorio urbano.

 

2015              Research Report, with Carlos Gordón: Los asentamientos informales en el área metropolitana

                        de Panamá. Cuantificación e implicaciones para la política de vivienda y urbanismo. (Informal Settlements

                        in the Panama Metropolitan Area.  Quantification and Implications for housing and urban policy). 

                        Panamá: Foro y observatorio urbano.

2011              Los costos económicos y sociales del desarrollo periférico de la vivienda de bajo costo en la ciudad

                       de Panamá. (“The economic and social costs of the development of low-cost housing in the periphery of

                       Panama City”).  Revista La Antigua, 73: 119-173.

 

2009             Integración social y desarrollo económico.  El caso del Casco Antiguo de Panamá.  (“Social

                        Integration and Economic Development. The Case of Panama’s Casco Antiguo”). Canto Rodado 4, 1-35.

 

2008             Heritage Preservation, Tourism, and Inclusive Development in Panama City’s Casco Antiguo.  Land

Lines (October 2008), 14-17.

 

2008             La segregación urbana: Una breve revisión teórica para urbanistas.  (“Urban Segregation: A Brief

                        Theoretical Review for Urban Planners”). Revista de Arquitectura

                        (Catholic University of Colombia), 10, 34-47.


2007             La acción del Estado: Recuperación del Casco Antiguo de la ciudad de Panamá.  (“The role of the

                        Government: The Recovery of Panama City’s Casco Antiguo”). Revista de Arquitectura (Catholic  

                        University of Colombia), 9, 39-41.

Journal articles and research reports

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