Pelos caminhos de um labirinto: reflexões sobre as territorializações do medo no bairro de Candelária, Natal-RN

Abstract

The city is a complex maze. Symbolic elements, tangible and intangible influence the practices of those who go down its ways. The experience within this urban labyrinth is mediated by perceptions of individuals in their relationship with others and with space. Among the various elements that may influence this perception, we highlight the fear of crime - feeling that becomes phenomenon as it is shown in the reality of the city, in its places and the spatial practices of its inhabitants. In multiple territorializations that boost and make the plural city space, fear of crime emerges as a territorialization agent that, every day, gains more prominence in urban dynamics. This work is mainly aimed to reflect on the spatial dimension of fear considering its territorialization which manifestations acquire visible and discursive forms, tangible and intangible, in the Candelaria district, located in the south of Natal-RN. Anchored in methods of qualitative research in geography, the urban dynamics of Candelária becomes webbed from the force field established between fear of crime and its inhabitants. From this tension emerge territorializations of fear that show its development in varying scales, affecting from the body of individuals to the material substratum of the neighborhood itself. From this dynamic, many processes arise retracing incessantly, the configuration of the urban maze of Candelaria, creating symbolic walls that affect the trajectories of individuals for their spaces.