Identity and Daily Space in Two Municipalities in Mexico City

Abstract

To analyze how different characteristics of daily space can construct an urban social identity, the author carried out an exploratory study in two Mexico City municipalities, one of them founded 35 years ago and the other 15 years ago. To obtain information on the use of the space, significant sites, and the value placed on social life, the author surveyed 100 people and observed socially relevant places. The presentation and analysis of the results explore different meanings of the information obtained on the formation of an urban social identity. In both places, local physical space was unimportant to the formation of identity traits. Results also showed the relevance of how value is placed, that is, the social meanings attributed to space. It is argued that the most important referent in the formation of an urban social identity is a generic notion of the urban against which the settlement is compared.