Relations between people and public space: Reflections on transformations, normative uses, reductions, and contradictions of public space during the pandemic

Abstract

Based on the spatial aspect of human beings and the social production of spaces and places, and considering that the social and health crisis associated with COVID-19 led to changes in spaces as well as restrictions and greater regulations regarding their use and social interactions, this article develops a theoretical discussion on the relationship between people and public space in the context of Colombia. This reflection is developed around four themes: the transformations of public spatiality as materiality; the normative uses of public space as a way of surveillance and control of society; the lessening of the world to proximal spatial scales and the consequent transformations in the relationalities with and in public spaces; and the contradictions and inequities of public space, expressed in the unequal distribution of spatial forms of living the pandemic. These aspects lead us to consider the relevance of highlighting the experiential sense of public spaces, from the analysis of new relationalities and social networks that take place there.