34/35 Spaces June 2005

IN DIFFERENT SPACES
Interpreting the spatial organization of societies

Edward Soja
Department of Urban Planning, University of California at Los Angeles

Portuguese

In this paper, originally delivered at the Space Syntax 3rd International Symposium, is discussed the recent evolution of Geography as a science, since the initial euphoria, in the middle of the twentieth century, with the application of mathematical analysis techniques, until the perception that these are too narrow in face of the multiplicity and uncontrollability of the variables in man-made environments. Although lacking this mathematical rigor, the contributions of Marxism, post-colonial studies and, bearing a decisive role, authors such as Henri Lefebvre and Anthony Giddens, revealed fundamental in giving back Geography the relevance of man in defining the spaces he inhabits.