Componiendo el barrio: la unidad socioespacial participativa de análisis

Abstract

The socio-spatial unit of analysis is a concept that aims to relate the spatial factor (the scale) and the temporal factor (the project), with purposeful techniques, to the policies and tools related to citizen participation. The present research highlights the use of the small-scale socio-spatial unit, the street, as a strategy for the study of self-induced participatory processes and its potential for raising awareness of larger-scale urban policies, neighbourhood or city scale, related to cultural, patrimonial, economic, social dimensions, etc. currently represented and with great media impact through urban maps. Two practical examples of intervention in a socio-spatial unit, a street, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, are presented. The importance of considering the parameters linked to the urban form is demonstrated, like action framework for mediation and conflict resolution, to encourage citizen participation to become a true engine of social change.