On the discovery of a typology of informally-produced public spaces

ABSTRACT

Unauthorised activities, sometimes called informal activities, have long been part of urban life. Although there is a wide range of studies focusing on urban informality using different approaches, its spatial production is still relatively underexamined. This paper explores typological variations of produced public spaces and their relation to the urban context. Using a quantitative approach and drawing on empirical evidence from Piura, Peru, it considers morphological patterns as an analytical key. Thus, the type is taken as a tool for interpreting the connections between elements that make up a space, demonstrating how residents shape their public environments. Direct observation and urban mapping were the key research methods. A dataset of 496 produced spaces allowed the analysis of different parameters and variations of each space. As a result, ten types that demonstrate different modes or processes of informal space production were identified. The findings contribute to the growing interest from different areas of knowledge that, until now, have been discussed separately, namely the typologies of produced public space and the field of urban informality research.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal practices
• public space
• urban form
• urban morphology
• mapping
• Piura (Peru)

Acknowledgements

The lead author is a PhD candidate at the University of Bío-Bio, Chile, and is a recipient of the Chilean National PhD scholarship ANID BECAS/DOCTORADO NACIONAL 21200196. We would like to thank Dr. Alexis Pérez and Dr. Laura Marín from the Universidad of Bío-Bío, and Alenka Poplin, PhD from Iowa State University, for their support and comments on this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2022.2150266

Author contribution

Social Geographer University of Bremen and MSc in Urban Development and Urban Design from the HafenCity University of Hamburg. PhD candidate in Urban Planning at the University of the Bío-Bío de Concepción-Chile. Teacher and director of the Institute of Urban and Territorial Planning at the University of Piura, Peru.

Architect and PhD in Urban Planning from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, full-time academic of the Department of Urban Planning and Design University of the Bío-Bío de Concepción-Chile, teacher and researcher at University of Alcala de Henáres and European University of Madrid. Spain.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the ANID BECAS [DOCTORADO NACIONAL 21200196].