Tipo de interés nominal y disposiciones relativas a los intereses pagaderos. 1 Tipo de interés nominal

In the study of the relationship between space and society it has been usual to use spatial or social determinisms. Sociology has tended to see the city as a container of processes,

and separated from them, while planners and designers have tended to attribute to space great transformative qualities. Structuralist approaches10 _{have rejected the notions of ‘spatial}

fetishism’, in which causal power in determining human agency is attributed to space. But, to consider that cities are simple containers of processes is also reductionistic, because space is a fundament of social activities (Lefevre, 2000).

Spatial determinism and the neglect of social processes was earlier common in urban studies, which used to deal with space as an objective and external dimension. This had its origins in Cartesian points of view, which mapped space by means of three coordinates. This type of ‘objective’ space was the by-product of the development of modern science, which opened up an empirical space of infinite extension. Scientific knowledge became a matter of comparison of identity and difference, as well as of mathematical measurement. Academics wanted to know everything globally and scientifically, and it seemed then possible to compare and measure with certainty all phenomena (Lowe, 1982).

Cartesian space, combined with objective time, developed into Cartesian thought, which has dominated urban studies since then. For example, central place theory was focused on the (economic) analysis of cities, considered as points in space forming a pattern of settlements within an urban system. The Chicago human ecology school applied spatial analyses to the internal structure of cities, leading to different models of the structure of cities. Louis Wirth associated lifestyles with settlement sizes in Urbanism as a Way of Life. These positivist approaches, based on the assumption of the economic rationality of human behaviour, a mechanistic view of society, and a topological conception of space, were supported with quantitative analytical techniques.

The belief that analytic reasoning can develop simple connections within objective time and space has been challenged. Henri Lefebvre has been one of the most influential thinkers to change the old dogmas related to space. Current urban theory acknowledges the complexity of the conceptualisation of space and the relevance of political economy and socio-cultural processes. The city is not seen any more as a mere artefact or space as its absolute framework. Time and space are not any more the absolute frame of the (urban) reality; they have become simple functions within a system. In contrast with the objective reality of Cartesian thought, defined from a unique perspective, the new (urban) reality is multi-perspective and environmental (Lowe, 1984).

Harvey (2003) argues that three space conceptions currently coexist. In the first space is conceived as the absolute framework of reality, as in Cartesian thought and Euclidean geometry. A second conception is more dynamic and sees it as relative to time and distance, to the medium of travel. The third notion, best theorised by Lefebvre, sees it as relational, dependent of the social processes that produce it. Lefebvre (2000) described three main ways of connecting to space, (a) representational space or the lived space, (b) the spatial practice or the perceived space and (c) the representation of space or the conceived space (Figure 2.4). These concepts become highly useful in understanding and pinpointing the challenges imposed by ICTs to urban professionals:

(a) Lived Space has complex codified and direct symbols, linked with life. It is the space as it is ‘lived’ by its users, but also as it is described by artists and philosophers. It contains nature and fertility, action and time. It is subjective; each person has a different lived space.

(b) Perceived Space is empirically observable. It contains the visible/legible: north, south, east and west, high, low, before, behind. Being able to hear and to see play a very important role. It is supposed to be continuous, but it is not always the case. The spatial practice of a society

differentiates its space. Spatial practice defines places, the relationship from local to global, and the image of that relationship, their actions and signals.

(c) Conceived Space is the abstract and geometric space that plays a role in social and political life. It is the medium for representing objects as buildings, infrastructure systems, and symbols. It is the space that academics, urban planners and designers deal with to develop their work.

Figure 2.4. Lefebvre’s (2000) three main categories of space.

Making a matrix of the conceptions and types of space one gets an array of spaces that expand the traditional dominant conception of space used in urban planning and design (Table 2.2). The dominant conceptualisation of space in traditional urban planning and practice is a combination of absolute and conceived spaces (Harvey, 2003). To overcome simplistic conceptualisations of the city and the urban phenomena, however, all of them have to be taken into account.

Absolute space Relative space Relational space

Lived space Perceived space

Conceived space Dominant view in traditional urban planning & practice

Table 2.2. The place of the dominant view of space in traditional urban planning and practice. This reductionist view of space in planning theory and practice is the product of ‘modernistic’ urban approaches based on the organisation of the industrial city, which currently only partially apply. These approaches, as well as absolute views of space and time as containers of the urban reality, are being critically revised in urban studies. Graham and Healy (1998) assert: “Both (planning practice and theory) have remained largely unable to reflect the new, relational,

non-linear and non-contiguous meanings of time, space and place in ways which allow us to understand the complexity of the contemporary world.” (1998: 641). They recommend practising

planning in a ‘relational way’ by considering relations and processes rather than objects and forms, by stressing the multiple meanings of space and time, by representing places as multiple layers of relational assets and resources, and by recognising the power of agency through communication and interpretation.

Two ICT-related processes, the emergence of cyberspace as a new urban domain and the extension of the extension of the spatial reach of urban activities, have made clear the need to transcend tangible, fixed and absolute concepts of space and time in order to understand the current city’s circumstances. ICTs are playing an important role in changing urban paradigms.

(a)

(b) (c)

Perceived space

(Spatial practice) Conceived space(Representation of Space) Lived space