Linking and Participation Processes in Public Space

This project addresses the need to incorporate psycho-environmental dimensions into urban planning, which is traditionally dominated by state technical-legal instruments that limit citizen participation to a purely consultative role. The main objective is to investigate the practices and meanings inhabitants attribute to public spaces, focusing on socio-spatial ties, appropriation, identity, and sense of community. The goal is to overcome the limitations of current participation instances, such as Quito's Casas Somos, by evaluating their actual qualitative impact on citizen appropriation. The methodology employed is mixed, based on Action Research (Lewin, 1988), integrating quantitative and qualitative data. Data collection techniques include document review, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and participatory mapping to reflect actual territory use. Qualitative analysis will be conducted using thematic analysis, while quantitative analysis will use descriptive statistics with SPSS IBM v21, aiming to establish meta-inferences that enrich the understanding of the phenomenon and promote participatory occupation of public use assets.<br/><br/><b>Goal</b>: <br/>To analyze the practices of city inhabitants in public spaces and the meanings emerging from their connection with materiality and other people, utilizing Action Research to generate local knowledge and train Psychology students in community environmental psychology.<br/><br/><b>Research lines</b>: <br/>Political, social and community psychology