Henri Lefebvre and the Third Space: Toward Another Critical Reading of Latin American Urbanization

Abstract

Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s notion of the “third space,” this article develops a critical approach to the production of urban space that foregrounds the symbolic, poetic, and political force of collective and non-normative uses. Conceived as a space of appropriation, transgression, and production of meaning, the third space emerges as both a methodological and epistemological lens for reimagining the urban from a Latin American perspective. This approach challenges the functionalist paradigms of neoliberal urbanization while also advancing beyond earlier Latin American epistemologies that have remained only marginally attentive to spatial analysis. Adopting an exploratory–analytical and theoretical–critical approach, the study examines contemporary urban experiences that have activated the symbolic dimension of the city—such as occupations and public facilities—in order to identify critical categories and emergent forms of spatial production. By reinscribing enjoyment, excess, and alterity into spatial experience, the article argues that these practices constitute empirical fields for reflection and experimentation, opening breaches for a situated, sensitive, and insurgent production of urban knowledge.