The urbanization trend in Latin American cities is currently one of the highest in the world. It determines that the increase in urban area is greater than the rate of population growth. In turn, cities use 75% of the energy consumed on the planet. For this reason, they are responsible in equal proportion for the production of greenhouse gases. In response, urban planning should incorporate design strategies to reduce said consumption. As an alternative to this trend, the objective of this investigation is to assess the impact of the different models of urban growth for the same city.

In the fi rst part of the article we give an account of the urban transformations that took place in Latin American cities, especially in Argentina, with the implementation of neoliberal politics since the seventies. We assume that neither the architectural facts, let alone urban