Epistemological elements for a social interpretation of the city

Abstract

Urban growth in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica has increased substantially in the last three decades, clearly manifesting itself in its spatial form. This transformation, however, is the expression of a more profound change: one stemming from the change in its social form. Consequently, in order to understand and interpret the transformation in this area it is important to use an epistemological approach. Based on the assumption that the city is a social construction, this paper includes the theoretical criteria of scientists whose contributions, from a critical perspective, allow the analysis of the city both as a network and a representation. The purpose of collecting and linking those contributions is to formulate a theoretical itinerary to clarify, in urban villages, the veiled processes that transform them and present a duality: they are caused by human action and human action receives their effects, a constant dialectic that deserves a cognitive approach that sees the city as an unfinished living entity in tension.