USES, MEANINGS AND POSITIONING OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF AN INFORMAL SETTLEMENT IN BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA

Over 400 million children and youth live in informal settlements around the world, particularly in Latin America. However, how they experience the urban space and the social and political implications of their urbanity are scarcely understood. Based on art workshops and walks with boys and girls of the barrio Brisas del Volador in Bogotá; this chapter explores how they use and appropriate public space, creating and giving meaning to the place. By doing so, they contribute to the sociospatial transformation of the neighborhood and help to construct their political subjectivities, in terms of building their identities as young urban citizens.