The urban experience as seen from the park : Spatial practice in neighbourhood parks of Bogota, Colombia

The urban experience as seen from the park : Spatial practice in neighbourhood parks of Bogota, Colombia

park, public space, social interaction, community

Latin American research has addressed the role of urban landscapes in contributing to a sense of community, to social relationships, to the quality of urban life and to community development. This thesis analyses, compares and evaluates spatial practice in two local parks of Bogotá, Colombia. Spatial practice in this research is defined according to Lefebvre’s writing on the production of space. Spatial practice refers to the sensorial level of spatial phenomena ; it involves uses, interactions, perceptions, influences and transformations in the everyday relationships between space and people. The two parks under investigation are located in and belong to different socioeconomic areas and the cross-class comparison of parks and spatial practice is important in a highly segregated city such as Bogotá. Locally, the two parks are part of the innovative municipal government program, ‘Parks for Learning How to Live,’ (1998-2000).This project transformed public space physically as well as residents’ perceptions of public space, parks, and outdoor recreation and leisure. The research design was qualitative because it sought information on perceptions, uses and feelings of park users.The findings identified that despite the two parks being similar in terms of their physical characteristics, they display different spatial practices that in turn reflect the socio-economic status, history, and expectations of the communities that use them. This research provides an in-depth analysis of the spatial practice in these two parks in order to start building a bottom-up framework that may be instrumental for future planning.

Camacho Duarte, Olga Lucia

University of Western Sydney

2005

Teal, Gregory. Supervisor

en

Thesis

http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/18222

http://lallier.msh-vdl.fr/theses/items/show/896

http://lallier.msh-vdl.fr/theses/archive/files/534a53fa012474635c9f204922540413.jpg