YOUTH AND URBAN SPACE: A STUDY OF THE USE AND APPROPRIATION OF SPACE BY YOUNG PEOPLE IN SÃO MIGUEL DO GOSTOSO - RN.
Keywords: Youth; Young people; Use and Appropriation of Space; Urban Space; Tourism; Sao Miguel do Gostoso.
ABSTRACT
The urban space is formed by a set of symbols and fields of struggle and, at the same time that it is a reflection, it is also a social condition, thus materialized society itself (CORRÊA, 1989). In this sense, it brings together the actions of the society that creates and recreates it to the extent of the actions, ambitions, intentions about it. For young people, leisure spaces, of playful sociability such as those on the street, squares, sports courts, cultural manifestations, parties represent the meeting points of groups and “tribes”, where, in a non-compromising way, values are established, bonds, recognitions and identifications (ALBUQUERQUE, 2006). Therefore, access to these spaces is essential for youth development. However, the urban space is experienced differently by individuals according to their social and economic insertion, as well as their age group. Given this context, the present research has the general objective of reflecting on the right to the city proposed by Lefebvre(1968), and analyzing the understanding of the new forms of use and appropriation of the urban space of São Miguel do Gostoso-RN, by young people, but receding into familiar social memory. The hypothesis worked is that as a fishing village, the general feeling was that the city belonged to everyone, and through the intense transformations of the urban space, caused, above all, by the “modernizations” brought by the advance of tourism from the last 15 years , significant changes were introduced in the forms of use and appropriation of space, resulting in relationships of exclusion and/or marginalization. The methodology will consist of an ethnographic research that, allowing the researcher to experience greater approximations/distances with the researched subjects, will be able to develop a holistic view, the understanding of the question of the social memory of the lived and transformed space, with the participation of the public study object. Collective dynamics with young people are proposed, as well as intergenerational interactions, provoking an active reflection, stimulating the memory of the process, as well as a differentiated perception of the different relationships with space, its culture and traditions in the short time of childhood and youth in various transformations. In addition to active observations during field visits, the study will use semi-structured interviews treated in a qualitative and quantitative manner, in addition to playful group dynamics, to obtain data. It will also feature a bibliographic survey to discuss the categories of urban space and youth.