THE PUBLIC SPACE(S) IN AN UNEQUAL AND SEGREGATED CITY

This article analyzes the uses of the public spaces in the contemporary urban life, discussing their relevance and ability to express diversity and produce intersubjectivities. For that, it discusses the validity of the thesis indicating the existence of a dilution/restriction process of public spaces. Through literary review, secondary data collection, and interviews with city residents, this work sought to analyze the dynamics of public spaces in Salvador before the recent urban transformations in the city. The findings indicate that the contemporary transformations favored privatization and self-segregation, restricting the use of public spaces. However, one cannot speak of the “death” of public spaces in Salvador, for their uses survives – although pressed by several factors such as their heterogeneity and inequality, their segregated and fragmented character, and by privatization and commodification processes, violence and fear, forms of disputes, distinctions and competitions.

Public space; Urban Sociability; Privatization; Segregation; Salvador