Espaços (semi)públicos de sociabilidade juvenil em Chapecó

Abstract

The use of geographic space is the central point of observation of the daily activities of human societies. One of these activities that play a fundamental role in group living is sociability, which requires adequate space for its accomplishment. In capitalist society, where private property is a guaranteed right, public spaces become less and less important in relation to the private ones. These, besides the space itself, offer other attractions usually linked to consumption. A clear and recurrent example of private space that is used as if it were public by society are the shopping malls. These are enterprises that combine consumption, leisure and sociability, and they are very present in metropolises and intermediate cities, as it is the case of Chapecó, a city located in the western region of the state of Santa Catarina. In Chapecó, some kinds of youth have difficulties in finding public spaces for practicing sociability, which means that they often use private spaces for this purpose. This private space is one of the objects of study of this research, the Havan’s parking, which during the night time serves as a semi-public space for youth. The objective of this research was to analyze the spaces occupied by young people and, through empirical research, to observe why this private space has been chosen for the practice of sociability, and which are the difficulties they face in occupying these semi-public spaces. The spaces need to meet the needs of youthful sociability, otherwise private spaces will be occupied, even if the public power uses strategies that hinder these movements of sociability.