Las urbanizaciones multifamiliares cerradas y su entorno urbano: Una nueva geografía simbólica en la ciudad de Cali (Colombia)

Abstract

The relation between gated communities in Latin America and their external spaces of proximity has been one of the least explored dimensions since their emergence until their consolidation; hence it is necessary to pay attention to this issue and reflect on how most of the new neighbors of these communities -particularly of Multifamily Gated Housings (mgh’s)- belonging to the new middle class, organize and imagine their neighborhood from their own spatial practices, subjective experiences and interaction with the urban environment. This paper is based on an ethnographical research carried out in a new neighborhood of the city of Cali (Colombia) in 2013, where the concepts of "privatized space" and "expected symbolic benefits", the latter through the analysis of "cognitive maps", have been taken as essential bases for this article.