Clara Irazábal and her contributors explore the urban history of some of Latin America’s great cities through studies of their public spaces and what has taken place there. The avenues and plazas of Mexico City, Havana, Santo Domingo, Caracas, Bogotaì, SaÞo Paulo, Lima, Santiago, and Buenos Aires have been the backdrop for extraordinary, history-making events. While some argue that public spaces are a prerequisite for the expression, representation and reinforcement of democracy, they can equally be used in the pursuit of totalitarianism. Indeed, public spaces, in both the past and present, have been the site for the contestation by ordinary people of various stances on democracy and citizenship. By exploring the use and meaning of public spaces in Latin American cities, this book sheds light on contemporary definitions of citizenship and democracy in the Americas.

This book is about understanding, contextualizing and carrying out critical analyzes of the policies intended and/or implemented by the various public and private actors in urban public spaces, as well as the daily, or eventual, politics exercised by the organized civil society and by citizens. It presents a collection of contributions about the public space in different theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches. Coming from different disciplines, the authors share an understanding about the need to analyze the uses and appropriations of the city by social subjects and groups as they represent difference and see the city as a place to share life experiences; as such, they argue, through their cases studies, that places of public use should be thought of and understood as concept and as social practice. As an analytic tool, the book offers a five-dimension model to explore how people relate to daily life activities and confront imposed inequalities in their meeting places, how they engage in individual and collective manifestations and/or how they symbolically appropriate public spaces in face of the late capitalism led by large corporations and globalization. Together the authors seek to contribute to a city of utopia, where all differences can be seen and dealt with in public spaces and where free individuals can present themselves and engage in a vita activa.

The essays in this collection present communities beset by unexpected social and physical events. Some outline immediate responses that soon pass and some that will not go away. Who would have foreseen that Elvis would be a phenomenon apparently as lasting as the faces on Mount Rushmore? Cultural history will not allow us to forget the H. G. Wells account of the Martian attack, nor can we ever forget the continued terror of the Chernobyl explosion. Ordinary Reactions to Extraordinary Events catalogues on the Geiger counter of human emotions societal reactions to events both earthshaking and culture-disturbing.

Placing Latin America offers a thematic approach to the study of the diverse geographies of a globalizing region. This comprehensive text focuses on the dynamic connections between people, places, and environments rather than on predefined notions about the region. The book’s well-rounded and accessible analysis includes discussions of borders and migration, transnationalism and globalization, urbanization and landscapes of cities, the connections between economic development and political change, the physical environment and human-environmental interactions, and natural resources in the context of a global economy. The authors also explore social and cultural themes such as the illegal drug trade, social movements, tourism, and children and young people. Providing a nuanced and clear perspective, this book will be an invaluable guide for all those interested in the politics, economy, and society of a rapidly changing continent.

This Handbook presents a broad overview of the current research carried out in environmental psychology which puts into perspective quality of life and relationships with living spaces, and shows how this original analytical framework can be used to understand different environmental and societal issues. Adopting an original approach, this Handbook focuses on the links with other specialties in psychology, especially social and health psychology, together with other disciplines such as geography, architecture, sociology, anthropology, urbanism and engineering. Faced with the problems of society which involve the quality of life of individuals and communities, it is fundamental to consider the relationships an individual has with his different living spaces. This issue of the links between quality of life and environment is becoming increasingly significant with, at a local level, problems resulting from different types of annoyances, such as pollution and noise, while, at a global level, there is the central question of climate change with its harmful consequences for humans and the planet. How can the impact on well-being of environmental nuisances and threats (for example, natural risks, pollution, and noise) be reduced? How can the quality of life within daily living spaces (home, cities, work environments) be improved? Why is it important to understand the psychological issues of our relationship with the global environment (climatic warming, ecological behaviours)? This Handbook is intended not only for students of various disciplines (geography, architecture, psychology, town planning, etc.) but also for social decision-makers and players who will find in it both theoretical and methodological perspectives, so that psychological and environmental dimensions can be better taken into account in their working practices.

The Round Table examined large-scale sporting, cultural and festive events in Europe and the rest of the world, and noted that setting ambitious targets contributes to the quality of the event.