Revealing the urban space: case study about urban fragmentation emergency.
Segregation. gated communities. Urban fragmentation.
The urban fragmentation is a recent phenomenon that spreads over the world. It has as the main characteristic physical and symbolical distances. Specifically, this phenomenon is related to the polarization that is growing between public and private world, resulting in the broken of physical and symbolical connection of those worlds. Cities also present old symptoms of media classes’ self-segregation, many times associated to the closed condominiums. Those habitations give protection and strengthens from the “treat” of the city, as well as they assure an apparent quality of life. This study aims to analyze, considering connection between local and global, how a closed condominium contributes to the phenomenon of urban fragmentation, based on case study of Jardim Atlântico condominium, situated between Natal and Parnamirim/RN. To consider global and local, it is an ethnographic research, specifically direct observation associated to the documental analyze, and qualitative interview related to the city dynamics. It concludes that condominium intern dynamic linked to the city dynamic have influence in the resident representations, that detaches differences between public and private world of those people. To them, the city is full of organized little islands in a peculiar way to the public object, made to pass through by their cars. Those routes connected to the desire to go to the little island are the real gaps that expresses city negation.