Territorialization and Resignification of Residual Space. Experiences from Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

In Bogota, Colombia, several areas such as vacant lots, abandoned buildings, inactive facade walls, and the zones under bridges do not have a clear form or function in the urban landscape but imply a discontinuity in the spatial organization of the city. These spaces are the unsightly afterthoughts of urbanization; therefore, they constitute residual spaces associated with topophobia. It means that they generate disagreeable emotions that make most people shy away from them. However, these spaces are suitable scenarios for territorialization by other citizens, through practices like graffiti, street vending, informal settlement, practicing urban sports, among others. These spatial practices transform the residual spaces from second-hand, wasted, superfluous, even banal, and non-relevant areas (Nogue 2011) to landscapes full of symbolic value for those who use them. Most of the spatial practices performed in Bogota’s residual spaces have historically been considered illegal by city planning institutions. Nevertheless, Bogota citizens produce a differential space (Lefebvre 1991) (i.e., their own revolutionary space inside the official one), by constant and diverse non-official activities through their claims on these spaces. To some extent, these transgressions constitute acts of territorialization exercised by those who seek a place within the city. Lefebvre (1991) states that the intertwining of three categories favors the production of space. These are representations of space, related to the imagined form by the ‘experts’; spatial practices, which involve those activities and perceptions that determine the function of space; and representational space, centered in users’ affectional experiences that give structure to space. Following the relational place perspective of Lefebvre’s spatial triad (Pierce and Martin 2015), this article goes beyond this threefold analysis to discuss territorialization practices of residual spaces in Bogota and their transformation into landscapes (Diaz Cruz 2015).