Public Space: an online platform for public matters

Brasilia, Brazil.

By Eduarda Aun
public space, citizenship, brasilia, democracy, social justice

Public Space is a platform developed to connect the different citizen-led initiatives that are reclaiming public space in Brasilia.

Brazil’s recent political, social and moral crisis has shaken the country’s democracy and affected its citizens’ belief and trust in the decision-making processes that impact their lives and cities. Divided by right and left, rich and poor, white and black, the general feeling of estrangement from decision-making processes in politics and the very crisis of political representation signals, among many things, the exhaustion of traditional institutions of representative democracies.

At the same time, a recent phenomenon happening in many cities around Brazil, and particularly in Brasilia, has given rise to new forms of citizenship. It has been through the reclaiming of public spaces, for social, cultural, economic or environmental purposes that social movements, community organizations and cultural producers have been creating new spaces and new means for action, experimenting with different collective forms of democratic governance and communal decision-making.

Not to say that this doesn’t come without conflicts and challenges. Brasilia, although unique for its historical and urban importance, is marked by the same social, cultural and economic contradictions of the country. Dispersed urbanization, combined with territorial mismanagement, institutional instability, clientelist politics, rigid landmark preservation and exclusionary development has led to a fragmented, segregated and unequal city.

As much as the Brazilian Constitution guarantees the right to the city, and defends the participation of civil society in urban development, these initiatives find many barriers imposed by the unequal access to public goods and knowledge, as well as by the existing regulations, bureaucracy, and the little autonomy that local decision-making grounds have. Due to an inflexible landmark status, the younger generations have little voice and, therefore, power to shape the city after ‘their own heart’s desire’ in a city that prioritizes its form over its people. Consequently, Brasilienses are only allowed to present themselves temporarily, isolated, disconnected and unsupported.

Under these circumstances, this project proposes to leverage the existing initiatives that are reclaiming public space by visualizing, translating, interpreting and representing them, shifting the way the government and the inhabitants perceive the city and their own practice as urbanists on the one hand and as citizens on the other.

The intention is to make the ignored socio-political and economic territorial histories of injustices visible, while simultaneously exposing the different ways of constructing the city and citizenship. Revealing these invisible practices is a way of bringing awareness to different actors, be them the very own organizations, governmental institutions, academia, while representing and empowering citizens. At the same time, it is intended to coordinate and synergize a dispersed movement that has similar demands and needs (autonomy, democratic governance, funding, government support) and an active role in shaping their environment, and who want to participate in the decisions regarding their city.

Through the interactive map, people will be able to engage with the events and spaces and passively participate (by knowing when, where and how to get there), or be provided the tools and resources to organize on their own. Displaying the available and most commonly used public space to be appropriated and commoned can encourage a change in perspective of what is public space, its use and management, and facilitate processes of commoning. Likewise, showing the actors involved in such initiatives can enable potential partnerships and collaborations, which can expand existing networks, but also give visibility to movements that are traditionally marginalized and made invisible.

The map is also intended to become a visual and political tool by on the one hand showing inequalities regarding access to, availability and quality of public spaces, and on the other, representing a demand by showing the quantity and diversity of organizations and initiatives in public space - once again showing demands that are usually disconsidered.

The idea is for the online platform to act as a facilitator of a process that is already happening organically, but that needs a space that coordinates and synergizes the different and scattered initiatives so that they can see themselves as part of a collective and a larger network. Since most of these initiatives are already organizing online through Facebook and Whatsapp groups, using online platforms is familiar and, at the same time, has a potential for expansion and interactivity.

Making this information available and accessible online will also aid city officials to understand the protocols that already happen informally and incorporate them into institutional frameworks, by adapting and/or flexibilizing existing legislations, zoning and permitting processes, for example. Based on the actual use and appropriation of spaces, the zoning plans and legislations that are to be approved in the next years can be supported by real, grounded practices. Having all of this information available online will be useful for social movements and city officials to dialogue about these matters as well.