Producing urban space from below: Andean reciprocity as informal governance in an intermediary city

Abstract

Intermediate cities in the Global South provide a critical setting for examining how migration and informality reshape urban governance. This study examines how internal migration and Andean reciprocity networks contribute to socio-spatial organization and informal governance in Juliaca, Peru. A qualitative ethnographic design was employed, combining participant observation, 30 in-depth interviews, and life histories with traders, community leaders, and local authorities. The findings reveal that kinship ties, regional affiliations, ayni-based reciprocity, trade union organizations, and community justice operate as durable governance mechanisms that regulate access to land, economic integration, conflict resolution, and territorial coordination beyond formal state planning. The study also identifies an emerging form of “informal modernity,” in which traditional reciprocity systems intersect with transnational trade networks and digitally mediated commercial practices. These findings challenge conventional approaches that equate informality with marginality, disorder, or state absence, demonstrating instead that informality constitutes a durable mode of socio-spatial production, collective organization, and grassroots governance. The study suggests that urban planning and governance in intermediary Andean cities should recognize community-based institutions, reciprocal networks, and grassroots self-governance as legitimate components of urban development. Integrating these social infrastructures into planning frameworks could contribute to more inclusive, context-sensitive, and locally grounded approaches to urban governance in rapidly transforming cities of the Global South.