Cuzco (Peru) and Cartagena (Colombia): Centralities, spatial practices and socio-spatial fragmentation

Abstract

The socio-spatial differentiation in South American cities has been increased due to the preponderance of neoliberalism logics. This entails processes of socio-spatial fragmentation, which can be observed in several cities in the last decades. With this project, which is associated with the thematic project "Socio-spatial Fragmentation and Brazilian Urbanization: scales, vectors, rhythms, forms and content" (11/2018 - 10/2013), we aim to understand, from the perspective of the urban space productive plan, the content of the socio-spatial differentiation, based on the spatial practices of the cities´ population that are increasingly being redefined by the tourism industry and commercial and real state superficies, such as shopping centers, with the objective of evidencing possible processes of socio-spatial fragmentation. To compose our empirical dimension, two South America cities were chosen: Cuzco in Peru and Cartagena in Colombia. Our analytical plan involves the centrality, the spatial practices and the socio-spatial fragmentation. The general objective is to study the principal centres and shopping centers of the listed cities, together with the spatial practices of their population so that we can verify the existence (or not) of socio-spatial fragmentation processes. Meanwhile, the specific aims are: (I) understand the mapping from the centres/suburb logic to a (possible) fragmentary socio-spatial logic, closely related to the restructuring of antique centres by the tourism and the formation of news centralities represented by shopping centers; (II) analyse the use and appropriation of the main centres and shopping centers from the evidences that there are "disjunctions" between the centre for tourists and residents; and (III) study the spatial practices of the population regarding the use of appropriation of centralities and "more traditional" and less central commercial spaces, to identify socio-spatial fragmentation processes. To this end, we intend to mostly use qualitative procedures. This means, the primary sources of research will be based produced by giving voice to social subjects, so they express the changes occurred in the forms of use and appropriation of urban spaces.