Abstract

GRAVANO, Ariel. Regional imaginaries and circular planning: the case of "TOAR" (Argentina). Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2006, n.7, pp.305-323. ISSN 1850-373X.

The circular management model is characterized by planned actions and continuous evaluation by those involved. Organizational culture, consisting of both practices and imaginaries shared between actors and agents, plays a key role. Confronting the challenge of building a region with medium-sized cities, these imaginaries, which create their own local identities, cover any practice and social management in their heterogeneity as well as in their necessary conjunction of interests. For fifteen years there has been a vain attempt to create a partnership of territorial productive development among four cities in the Province of Buenos Aires (Tandil, Olavarría, Azul and Rauch: TOAR). The challenge consists of creating a strategic plan that finally manifests this reality. The aim of this paper is to enrich the plan's management model, facilitating its organization, and to study the regional imaginaries. Our hypothesis focuses on the methodological dimension of organizational management and establishes that the failures have been due to lineal and conductivist approaches, based on the theory of social homeostasis as is most strategic development. We propose a circular approach to management, based on the dialectic theory of conflict. In addition, we show how local imaginaries could be incorporated into regional planning.

Keywords : Urban imaginaries; Middle size cities; Management; Planning.

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