Discovering the para-formal city: controversies and mediations in public space

Abstract

This work aims to map para-formality in the downtown area of Latin American cities as Bagé, Salvador, Montevideo, Santiago de Chile, Santo Angelo, La Plata, Pelotas, Brasília, São Paulo and Jaguarão from urban cartography, making use of infographics and dissemination in real time via website. Activities considered to be para-formal are those that lie on the boundary between the formal – taken as formed, ready-made – and informal, as in "forming", "under construction." These are commercial, cultural, housing-related activities, among others, found in the public space of the city, which are not part of its first configuration, but nowadays become part of its everyday life. The subjects here called para-formal are actors of the city who take ownership of space and organize themselves without any intervention of the State. Their actions often generate controversies, disputes, different opinions and discussions, since they directly interfere in the dynamics of urban life and reconfigure the space of cities. Such assemblages construct, with other urban subjects, the city itself - Do It Yourself.