Sense of place of the segregated city: A case study of Ibagué, Tolima

Abstract

Studies of residential segregation in Latin America have been approached mainly from socioeconomic criteria, but in recent years, this phenomenon has gained relevance from its subjective dimension. The objective of this article is to analyze the effect of the new expression of socio-spatial segregation in the city imagined and lived by its residents, having Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia as case study. To achieve this, the theoretical analysis was made from the sense of place and socio-spatial segregation, and the methodology was developed from the qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the method of data collection was applied using mind maps. The most relevant evidence shows that the practices of the actors, understood as territoriality, are related to the relative position that they occupy according to the socioeconomic stratification, i.e., the interviewed groups, through the space they inhabit, use the imagination to portray the socio-spatial segregation they live in the city, which generates a social space.

Keywords: intermediate city, urban imaginary, segregation.