The place of the subject in the urban place: choice and circumstance
spatial segregation, São João del-Rei; urban place; condominium logic.
The city reveals itself as a location of multiple narratives, particularities and territories. São João del Rei is known through the narrative of a historic, tourist and university city. However, there is another one here. The intended study seeks to trace ways of understanding the relationship between public and private and spatial segregation in the city of São João del Rei. To draw such an understanding, an introduction is made on how social segregation is transposed to spatial fragmentation. Subsequently, two logics of neighborhood formation are considered, with different origins, histories, social and economic profiles in order to confront characteristics, investigate similarities and differences, identify marks, articulations and operations for the functioning of the studied urbanization units. São Dimas neighborhood represents a history of collective struggle and resistance. Opposed to this, is the increase in the expressiveness of the “condominium lógic” in the city. Therefore, choices and circumstances about the place of the citizen in the urban place are detailed.