Social representations, public space, and consumption in the city of Metepec, State of Mexico, Mexico
Social representations, public space, and consumption in the city of Metepec, State of Mexico, Mexico

Author(s): José Juan Méndez Ramírez, Teresa Becerril Sánchez
Subject(s): Environmental Geography, Human Ecology, Environmental interactions
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: social representations; public space; symbolic production of consumption
Summary/Abstract: The article discusses changes in the social representations of the consumers of urban production in the Municipality of Metepec, Mexico. It focuses on streets and commercial plazas, public spaces in which the symbolic production of consumption takes place. In its methodology, the paper makes use of documentary techniques to identify the categories of analysis and the theoretical principles. In addition, it uses field techniques (mainly observation). The transformation in the meaning of public space and its new representation in ‘pseudo-public space’ has induced new forms of consumption among the population. It has also strengthened the appropriation of space due to the sense of security which consumers feel in these new ‘pseudo-public’ places – they perceive them as safe from risks and aggression, something that they no longer experience in traditional public spaces.

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