Parque do Flamengo: A construção cotidiana de um espaço democrático

Resumen

This paper discusses the public image of parque do Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro, as a democratic space. Parque do Flamengo is one of the city's largest and most popular urban parks, attracting a diversified population in terms of social groups, activities and intentions of use. This study, based on a research strategy which combined qualitative and quantitative methods, approaches the park as a cultural landscape, and therefore subject to different forces and to the i nterests of different groups along time. The image of the park as a "democratic space" w ill be discussed through people'sdaily experiences of the park, focusing on some uses which no necessarily have a character of recreation or leisure: the appropriation and transformation of the park in a religious and working space, in a space to live, and the social division of the park. This study reveals that the democratization of Parque do Flamengo implies in a reinterpretation and reconstruction of its landscape by the park users, leading to a socio-spatial segregation and a number of conflicts due to the multiplicity of meanings given to the park. The paper concludes arguing that one of the ways to deal with this diversity of values would be through a more active local community's participation in public spaces' administration