This essay to explores the urban landscape of the 21st century Latin
America, marked by the massive expansion of informal sectors and drug
industry that, in turn, foreground in the explosion of violence and fear
across the continent. Also, it examines how the meaning of citizenship
has been changed and the ways citizens are divided and polarized in
accordance with the creation of new urban spaces: “slum” and “gated
community.” Two films, Ciudade de Deus (2002) and La zona (2007),
tell the stories of Rio de Janeiro’s favela and Mexico City’s gated
community respectively, visualizing the urban ecologies riddled with
by inequality, alienation, and hierarchy among members of the city.
Slum is an overcrowded residential area inhabited by underprivileged,
while gated community refers to affluent neighborhoods that maintains
controlled access and walled boundan’es. These films demonstrate
how the two spaces are entangled and embeded in the neoliberal
transformation, contributing to the distribution of violence and the
formation of exclusive citizenship.

Key Words: Informal Economy, Slum, Gated Community, Exclusive Citizenship, Latin America, Ciudade de Deus, La zona
Submitted: Sept. 05, 2022
Reviews Completed: Sept. 20, 2022
Accepted: Sept. 28, 2022