The pervasiveness of neoliberal territorial design: Cross-border infrastructure planning in South America since the introduction of IIRSA

This paper examines the historical evolution and geographic biases of the Initiative for the Integration of South America's Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA). The study presents an analysis of the initiative's origins in the neoliberalization of Brazilian planning in 1990s; the characteristics of its first round of cross-border infrastructure investments during the 2000-2010 period and its unaltered incorporation into the UNASUR institution, following South America's recent post-neoliberal transition. The paper conceptualizes IIRSA's spatial planning framework of 'integration and development axes' as an enduring form of neoliberal territorial design. By prioritising public investment in logistics corridors, IIRSA has privileged the global competitiveness of select export sectors over all other infrastructure provision and macro regional planning considerations. It also aggravates geographically uneven development and fails to reflect extensive urbanization dynamics. The analysis is supported by archival research, a careful reading of policy documents and primary fieldwork conducted in the borderland Brazilian state of Roraima which illustrates the socio-spatial impacts that IIRSA has produced on the ground through its selective roadway development and lack of comprehensive planning in the Guianese Shield Axis - the designated corridor with the lowest level of investment. In addition to presenting a comprehensive empirical assessment of IIRSA, the paper aims to contribute to the literature on the variegated geographies of neoliberalism and emerging debates on planetary urbanization by emphasizing the ways in which state intervention (re) shapes extensive networked infrastructures, which, in turn, condition urbanization processes and inter-urban relations. The paper's conclusion includes policy recommendations and suggestions for future research. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.