Two technical assistance methods: the activity of the Ford Foundation in Chile and Argentina, 1960–1972

This article analyses the activity of the Ford Foundation (FF) in the field of regional and urban planning in the Southern Cone countries of Latin America in the 1960s. During a period in which Urban Studies expanded, the FF developed activities, projects and programmes that simultaneously consolidated discussions on urban processes and their future actions both in the United States and in the developing world. The FF’s took actions on a global scale, and Argentina and Chile were part of a broader strategy. From 1959, after the Cuban revolution, the Foundation’s philanthropic activity expanded in Latin America, especially in the field of social sciences. The Instituto de Planeamiento Regional y Urbano (Litoral Institute for Regional and Urban Planning, IPRUL) in Argentina and the Comité Interdisciplinario de Desarrollo Urbano (Interdisciplinary Committee on Urban Development, CIDU) in Chile were exponents of this sort of FF-sponsored approach thanks to their technical and financial assistance. A comparative analysis of activities undertaken by the institutions in question reveals a number of interconnections between the realms of philanthropy, planning, political authority and networks of academic experts.