Socio-Spatial Transformation and Configuration of the Municipal Administrative Center’ Public Space in Armenia, Quindío, during the Past 20 Years

Abstract

Public space represents the articulation of social complexities situated in a physical space; i.e., a city’s place for social, collective, and symbolic exchanges. This article is aimed at showing the physical and spatial transformation and configuration of a symbolic space in the city of Armenia, Quindío, which involves the uses of the urban imaginary of the old Market square. The qualitative methodology used considers the urban mapping and participant observation technique. Therefore, the results suggest a physical and spatial analysis of the configuration of the block where the Municipal Administrative Center of Armenia is located. Its representation is based on the symbolism and complexities of how the public space is used, revealing a space for resistance facing contemporaneous urban intervention models as a social integration and appropriation space.