8 Methodology

→ Problem Definition → Hypothesis → Objectives → Case Study → Methodology 01 Introduction.

Chapter one: Introduction.

FIG 3. Main Square in Leon (author’s own, 2013).

Problem Definition.

It can always be identified that public spaces are never the same, they change alongside their environment and society. They represent a snapshot of a particular place and time. While observing the users interact with the spaces, it is possible to learn from their spatial nature and socio-cultural context of its users.

Public spaces (also addressed in this dissertation as PS) are funded with public money by the government, said money proceeds from the taxes that citizens pay; therefore, those spaces belong to the citizens, but why doesn’t everybody have the same access to them? To what extent is the spatial segregation responsibility of the local authorities, society, and designers? How can appropriation be a way of expressing, protesting, and denoting the inequality within different social groups?

Leon is a city in central Mexico with a land area slightly above 1,200 km2 (Municipio de León, 2021), and with about 2 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area (INEGI, 2015). According to the Municipal Institute of Planning (IMPLAN 2020), in the city there are 300 ha of PS; however, the characteristics and the quality of them may not be uniform throughout different zones in Leon. The issue does not seem to be exclusively found in this city. The presence of a connection between income, accessibility, and features of the PS, has been suggested by authors such as Jordi Borja and Zaida Muxí. (2003).

Unmeasured urban sprawl, amongst other factors, affects mainly those who are less privileged. The areas where they live lack basic services and infrastructure, consequently these areas experience a rise in urban violence that in the long term affects the rest of the city. In theory, all citizens should have the same opportunities to cover their basic human needs; in reality, growing cities often ignore their most vulnerable inhabitants. By understanding how cities have been developed and how people interact with them, urban planners, designers and architects can identify the needs that the society is trying to cover in PS and the elements that attach, or not, citizens to them.

To conduct this research, the first part is about the analysis of how different typologies of PS are distributed in certain polygons of the city. By typologies, it will be understood as the different types of PS that share common characteristics; and by polygons, it will be referred to as delimited areas with similar morphological and social conditions. The second part is about how these spaces are appropriated and perceived by its users.

Hypothesis.

The lack of formal public spaces in marginalised areas in Leon leads to the production of space through the appropriation of non-formal spaces to compensate for the situation. Key concepts. •Inequality •Appropriation •Public space •Sense of belonging •Informality

Research Questions. What and how are the manifestations of appropriation of public spaces that can be found in Leon, Mexico? And why do they happen?

• To understand the causes and consequences of the different typologies of PS. • To measure how the social dimension of public spaces can affect the physical dimension and vice versa. •To recognize opportunities for improvement and regeneration. •To measure the impact of the distribution and typologies of PS during the pan demic.

Contemporary cities are home to more than half of the population worldwide, and it is expected that by 2050 the figure would be 66% (UN Habitat, 2018). By the same year, 88% of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean will live in an urban settlement (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2018). Latin America, which was once a largely rural region, has experienced an important urban growth due to increasing population and rural to urban migration. The second most populous country in the region is Mexico with 127 million inhabitants in 2020 (Statista, s.f.).

The city of Leon is located 400 km northwest of Mexico City, it is the economic capital of the state of Guanajuato. Leon Metropolitan Area is the 7th largest in the country. Its intense economic growth is the result of the high concentration of industrial activities. Due to its geopolitical conditions, the population in the city is

What are the PS typologies that can be found in a segregated city such as Leon, Mexico? How does the distribution of PS vary throughout the city? What typologies are most found throughout Leon? What patterns can we find about the production of space? How is the income related to access to one or another type of PS?

Objectives.

Case Study.

projected to grow above the national average by 2030, reaching a population of 1.7 million inhabitants (IMPLAN, 2014). A bigger city needs more services, jobs, housing and therefore... more public spaces.

This city, like many others in the region, has grown without a structured pattern in the periphery and closer to industrial parks. The city has an average density of slightly above 11 inhabitants/ha, the areas far from the city centre are the less dense, having mainly single-family homes. In total there are 250,000 single family social housing and self-built homes (70% of the total in Leon), and 1,000,000 inhabitants (66% of the total population in Leon) (IMPLAN, 2014).

Middle and high-income neighbourhoods tend to be gated communities and they include their own private parks and green areas. Whereas, low-income neighbourhoods are not always planned. In many cases, they are irregular settlements, 144 throughout the outskirts of the city and deploying the seven poverty polygons. Hence why they haven’t been provided by PS and green areas (IMPLAN, 2014).

What is seen in the low-income areas are leftover spaces, that can be dangerous and an unhealthy surrounding for residential areas. The most vulnerable

2021

urban rural Leon

Metropolitan Area of Leon

2050

FIG 4. Population living in urban settlements in Latin America (author’s own, 2021). 400 km Guanajuato

Mexico City

FIG 5. Location of the Case Study (author’s own, 2021).