This paper revisits the narratives about internal migrations in Peru and Lima’s urban explosion during the second half of the 20th century, in order to investigate their permanence and protagonism – mainly in comparison to other Latin American cities and to the diagnoses that are characteristic of regional urban thought at the beginning of this century – as a central element of the discourses and imaginaries about the contemporary metropolis. On the one hand, it explores the specificities of the Peruvian case in the broader context of Latin American urbanization and of the canonical discourses that have marked its understanding. On the other hand, in dialog with more recent studies, it highlights the persistent centrality of the migration process in the contemporary discourses about the city and its socio-spatial dynamics.
urban imaginaries; internal migrations; Latin America; Metropolitan Area of Lima; Peru