From the “City of Walls” to the “Pilotis Brasilienses”: challenges on the road from spatial disconnection towards social connection in Brazil
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Date
2016
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AESOP
Abstract
Distinct planning theories have addressed the importance of promoting social connection in the built environment. When Susan Fainstein developed the concept of “Just City” (2010) she used social connection as a fundamental aspect towards the just city defined by diversity, equity and democracy. Fincher and Iveson (2008), additionally, explore social connection as a tool to “plan with diversity” as one of the “three social logics of urban planning”, i.e., redistribution, encounter and recognition. There is no doubt that social connection is a powerful tool and that it can tackle complex issues like urban diversity and spatial justice. However, the Brazilian context shows that there are still many uncertainties about how spatial connection can be used to promote social connection.
Several authors have shown that social connections became more complex and ephemeral in modern society, such as Castells, with the concept of “network society” (2010), or Bauman, with the concept of “liquid modernity” (2000). Although the virtual world plans an important role in the creation of social connection in the present context of the ‘Post-Industrial Society’ (Bell, 1973), physical space still has a part in the creation of social connections. A banker living in a gated community in the suburban area of São Paulo has more social contacts with a banker in London than with a construction worker living in poor housing at the other side of the street. Thus, urban intervention aiming to promote social contact can be extremely challenging, especially in such complex and uneven urban contexts.
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Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
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