Todos os caminhos levam ao parque: processos de identidade, socialização e apropriação do espaço urbano no Parque Ecológico de Capim Macio - Natal, RN

Abstract

In the globalized and competitive world, the urban spaces are dynamic due to their nature integrating the objects materiality with human activity, being a stage of transformation, fluidity and also contradictions. The middle class, South side Capim Macio neighborhood, has little pedestrian flux and leisurely public spaces. That changed thanks to the revitalization of Capim Macio’s Ecologic Park, a leisure space surrounded by bars with the City Guard presence. The present work aims to analyze to what extent the changes implemented by the public authorities in a sociability space such as the Capim Macio Ecological Park modify the dynamics of the neighborhood and what disputes emerge between the various social actors in the occupation of public space. The methodology used was the ethnographic method, through Participant Observation and Ethnographic Walk, along with material collection from press vehicles and social networks. As results, it was discovered: questions of identity in the construction of a physical and cultural place, conflicts over the appropriation of urban space to create a leisure space, the interests of public authorities in urban planning policies for a socialization space and the presence of the neighborhood's Residents' Association as a control and surveillance part legitimized by the State alongside the presence of the Municipal Guard. So, the work concludes that public planning must be conceived as a project that dialogues with social and political life in a manner that prioritizes the community, seeking to overcome differences with an interest in the collective.