We argue that a stronger linkage between planning theory and political economy/critical geography-through an analytical reading of the social conflicts that accompany the design and implementation of instruments of urban planning-provides additional insights to understanding urban neoliberalization in emerging countries such as Brazil. We develop this argument through a case study on the limits and potentials of progressive-redistributive planning in Sao Bernardo do Campo (Metropolitan Sao Paulo), which symbolizes the spatial, socio-economic and political trajectory of the Brazilian developmental regime. Our analysis shows that a local government, committed to the premises of inclusive urban planning, and with the available technical-operational implementation capacity, faced several challenges to do so. At the same time, the real estate sector showed a remarkable capacity to leverage land markets and to fill in-or hollow out-the associated planning instruments, thereby denying their inherently progressive-redistributive or neoliberal-mercantile character, as idealized by many planners.