The Urban space as a place of misencounter

Abstract

The development of Maracaibo, like the rest of the Venezuelan cities, has been the product of an unplanned inertia, the result of an extended process of invasions, 65% of the urban surface presents this development, which involves 60% of the population.On the other hand, the conformation of exclusive zones such as walled condominiums and open urbanizations have been subject to a gradual pseudo-privatization, and are being transferred to the city's public spaces. Likewise, the climate of violence, socio-cultural inequality, fear of the other and insecurity -more than 600 homicides per year in Maracaibo since 2005- brings with it new "forms of coexistence" in the urban space.This analysis intends to show how the withdrawal on private space, the kidnapping of the street, the absence of the right to mobility and the scarce urbanity of urban public space, have caused an emptying of public life in the city, bringing as a consequence a weakening of social interactions.