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

Stella Schroeder and Ignacio Bisbal Grandal

Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 2025, vol. 18, issue 3, 458-482

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.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/17549175.2022.2150266

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