The Social, Symbolic and Imaginary Dimensions of Spatial Representations

Resumo

This introduction presents spatial representations as social and symbolic constructs informed by everyday practices, social relationships and cultural contexts. Initially studied from a bio-physical and cognitive angle, these representations have been increasingly subjected to a socio-spatial approach that emphasizes the meanings social groups attribute to places. This body of research, which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, draws on the social representations paradigm, combined with ethnographic approaches featuring socio-spatial representations. Far from simple mental representation tools, the maps used by these researchers play a central mediating role, enabling the exploration of collective memories, social identification processes and inter-group relationships. This interdisciplinary framework is used to analyse and understand individuals’ relationships to their surroundings, often in connection with current social and environmental concerns, shedding light on the ways in which groups construct and share the spatial, identity and symbolic meanings of their relationships to the places where they live.