Young people in Rio de Janeiro: routes, insecurities and risks

Abstract

Youngsters create representations of the city based on their routes and the relationships they establish with people and space. City’s diversity can be seen as something negative, which produces fear and insecurity. In the present work we discuss how youngsters face the risks of living in a big city: their actions and strategies, the spaces they attend, their feelings once they are in places where they feel threatened. In order to discuss these topics, we interviewed seven young people (four boys and three girls), with ages between 18 and 28 years old, using semi-structured interviews, who live in different neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro city. In our analysis of the empirical material, we discuss how insecurity is related to the bonds these youngsters establish with the urban space, to their knowledge and feelings of belonging to that place. We explore the conflicts that some of these youngsters face when they want to enjoy the opportunities and diversity of the city, but, at the same time, become concerned by other people’s social and economic reality, marked by violence and precariousness. For some of these youngsters, the urban experience is marked by the desire for cultural and symbolic goods of the city, avoiding prejudice and discrimination.