Public Space and Segregated City: A Study of Central Squares in São Carlos (SP) from the 1990s Onward

• Grant number: 23/14236-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Manoel Antonio Lopes Rodrigues Alves
• Grantee: Gabriela Delisangela Andrade
• Host Institution: Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo de São Carlos (IAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present master's project aims to study central public spaces in a non-metropolitan context, specifically in the city of São Carlos/SP, which exhibits characteristics of the segregation process. The research stems from the array of transformations in contemporary cities, which challenge relationships within public space, and seeks to understand the practices in the city's central squares. This inquiry aims to reflect on how such spatial configurations have impacted contemporary public spaces, their spatialities, and territorialities.To achieve this, a case study will be conducted in four central squares in São Carlos, beginning in the 1990s when the city's main shopping center was founded, subsequently becoming the new hub for consumption and leisure for the middle and upper classes. This transformation altered the dynamics of the city center. The research will adopt an empirical-theoretical qualitative methodological approach, carried out through observation, interviews, questionnaires, and systematic photography, which will enable the profiling of space use and socio-spatial practices in the selected central areas. The results of this study will serve as empirical contributions to the understanding of public spaces in central areas of non-metropolitan cities that have experienced significant population growth in Brazil. It is argued that emphasizing the analysis of contemporary public spaces is a way to underscore their relevance and political potential, through their everyday occupation, involving disputes, conflicts, concessions, and agreements, as an exercise in democracy