Citizens’ participation in the urban regeneration of informal settlements: policy innovations and their limits in the Nova Constituinte neighborhood in the city of Salvador, Brazil

Based on public policy innovations implemented in a neighborhood in the city of Salvador, Brazil, this article seeks to enhance the understanding of the dynamics of the informal city and the design of public policies for their regeneration in the Brazilian context. This analysis and critical evaluation will contribute to the experimental process of determining appropriate and effective public policies for the management and upgrading of informal areas. And although it focuses on Brazil, results of this study could apply to the same phenomenon in other Latin American countries where informal urban settlements share similarities with the Brazilian ones. Reflections on the structuring of participatory planning processes are also important as a contribution to the international debate on the processes of democratization of society