The significance of public places to the people of Bogota, and policy implications for the city as a learning environment (Colombia)

This study explores public places that are significant to the people of Bogota, Colombia. It examines the cognitive constructs that the citizens living in this large metropolitan use to conceptualize and value the public places of their city. The sample was 213 men and women of different ages living in the different zones of the city. The study used the qualitative data collection procedures of open-ended interviews and Multiple Sorting Tasks, (MST). After a free sorting of the types of public spaces in the city and their attributes, participants were instructed to complete a questionnaire designed to explore cognitive, emotional and behavioural association with these public places. Several multivariate statistical procedures, including multidimensional scaling analysis (MSA), and multiple regression analysis were used to explore the underlying cognitive structures in the response patterns and to determine the different meanings participants gave to public places. Results indicate that participants share a high level of satisfaction with the new public spaces of Bogota. In the multiple sorting tasks the participants conceptualised public places using primarily two criteria: (1) the function of a public place and (2) the level of privatization and accessibility to a public place. The rules embedded in different places are important determinants in the assessment of public places. Analysis of answers to a questionnaire revealed that the age of participants, their length of residence in the city and their place of residence are important influences on how public spaces are conceptualised. Also, the physical and social properties of places influence the frequency with which people visit different public places, the company persons choose to have in visiting these places, the feeling of freedom they feel in them, and the identity they feel that place gives to the city. The existing official understandings and policies regarding public places are then compared with the theoretical basis and main conclusions of the research in order to propose a model of the learning potentials of public space. Finally a set of specific educational and urban planning recommendations is offered regarding the public places of Bogota.