THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC PLACES TO THE PEOPLE OF BUCARAMANGA

This research was conducted over the course of the subject of Nucleo Integrador, by the students sebastian patio, Daniela Rueda and Jonathan FornarisOverviewOur research illustrates how a sensitive study driven by environmental psychological concepts can make a contribution to enhancing the quality of life of city residents, employing techniques that explore the resonant signs and symbols of the psycho-social history of the city with a view to enhancing residents sense of place and identity.Despite the rich history and importance of public spaces in general and plazas in Colombian culture, this research demonstrates that, such places have not been immune from the onslaught of the forces and failures of capital investment. Perhaps, unlike many other cities in the world, successive governments in Bucaramanga haven't realized the importance of public spaces and haven't sought to protect and enhance them for the "satisfaction of collective urban needs, and to increase the amount of public spaces available for the benefit of the citizens of Bucaramanga.

Research Question

Given the scarcity ofstudies onthe city in thesocial and psychological aspects, knowledgeof howindividualsrepresent it,the meaningsassigned to them, the emotionalityassociated withthe placesthat they recognize andthe use madeof them, canget to giveguidelinesto strengthenthe identityof its people andits future developmentplan.Inline with this, the question arises: How the people of Bucaramanga conceptualizes and evaluates some public places?

ObjectiveThis question led us to propose the following objective: Explore the meanings that the inhabitants of the city assigned to public places of Bucaramanga.

Design and Methodology

Overall approach

This research was conducted in the framework of a qualitative methodology. This from the Ethnomethodology perspective which focuses on the way people make sense of their everyday world.

Method

Participants: We recruited 29 subjects (10 male, 8 female) from Bucaramanga city, ranging in age from 20 to 60 years old, who voluntarily participated in this experiment. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. We consideredas inclusion criteria,thestratum-socioeconomicdiversity,and that participantsat the timeof the studywere livingin the metropolitan areaof Bucaramanga.

Instruments: Two techniques of data collection were included:A semistructured interview individually, and an open type of interview known as Multipleitem classification.

Methods of data analysis

This process was performed using the technique of qualitative content analysis, which defines itself within the framework of an empirical approach, methodically controlled analysis of text within their contexts of communication.ProcedureTo carry out the interviews, each participant was given 16 cards, which contained printed a significant place of the city. They were asked individually to perform different classifications of the places represented in them. Subsequently, we conducted a content analysis of the information obtained through interviews, so that a process of categorization resulted in a final matrix of categories, which led to interpreting relationships between variables and identify personal constructs that reflect the meanings assigned by the Bucaramanga people to public spaces.

Results

Who took part in this research they agree on the level of satisfaction with the diversity of parks that function as central elements of the public. Similarly, most share a high level of awareness of abandonment and uprooting by significant places in the city, such as museums, libraries and parks. It was then identified as participants recognize the importance of generating more debate on the issue of public places to improve the quality of life, as the conflicting nature of the space in relation to its privatization and commercialization.

The variety of constructs used is a concrete proof of the diversity and richness of the experiences of people on public places. The "place function" construct was the most used by respondents, indicating that the representation we have of public places is the use or the rules that define it.

This research allowed us to visualize the lack of public places that are promoters of a sense of ownership and pride in the public space, as well as the need to balance the distribution of public places in all areas of the city, particularly in neighborhoods lower strata.

Finally, we highlight that the city stands a huge source of learning opportunities. Its diversity of lifestyles and facilities constitute occasions for learning, but education policies should promote Bucaramanga make this accessible and useful in the process of educating the citizen information.

Objectives The general purpose of the research was built an understanding of how the people of Bucaramanga city conceive of, and value, the public places of their city.