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The Changing Nature of Public Space in São Paulo? A Taxonomic Approach
Type
book section
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Newell, B.C.
Timan, T.
Koops, B.-J.
Abstract (De)
Public spaces are the backbone of cities and the way we experience urbanity. At the same time, the idea of public space is considerably larger than its mere spatial dimension and includes important political, social, cultural, and legal dimensions. From such an understanding, public spaces may also be perceived as a mirror of society and its cities that embodies the balance between publicness and privacy, freedom and restrictions, surveillance and security. Due to this multi-dimensional nature, public space represents a great academic lens to study urban change and its underlying forces. Research can be quite challenging given that such dynamic relationships create a lot of uncertainty and confusion about the definition, implications, and measurement of public space. “What do we mean by public space?”, “Why is public space important to us?”, and “How can public space contribute to a more sustainable society?” are just three fundamental, yet not easily answered, questions.
This chapter uses these questions as a starting point to venture into the complexity of public spaces, specifically to unfold the ways in which past and more recent economic, spatial, and societal transformations have changed the nature of public spaces, which in turn, challenges established discourses. In the following sections, I retrace the changes in cities and societies in Europe and the United States and then discuss the broad spatial changes in Brazil and the city of São Paulo. While the US developments are well-documented and serve to introduce the reader to the general parameters of spatial transformations and their underlying causes, this chapter helps to cast light on a rather untold story (at least to non-Portuguese speakers), of the history and trajectory of changes to public spaces in Brazil, with special reference to São Paulo.
This chapter uses these questions as a starting point to venture into the complexity of public spaces, specifically to unfold the ways in which past and more recent economic, spatial, and societal transformations have changed the nature of public spaces, which in turn, challenges established discourses. In the following sections, I retrace the changes in cities and societies in Europe and the United States and then discuss the broad spatial changes in Brazil and the city of São Paulo. While the US developments are well-documented and serve to introduce the reader to the general parameters of spatial transformations and their underlying causes, this chapter helps to cast light on a rather untold story (at least to non-Portuguese speakers), of the history and trajectory of changes to public spaces in Brazil, with special reference to São Paulo.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Book title
Surveillance, Privacy, and Public Space
Publisher
Routledge
Publisher place
New York
Start page
51
End page
74
Pages
24
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
254438