Luxury consumption and socio-spatial fragmentation
The socio-spatial fragmentation has increased world-wide along with the brutal growth of inequalities, increasing diversity of styles of life and consumption patterns. It is understood as processes leading to splintered forms of occupation, new realities in the social realm and in the production and appropriation of space, with ‘enclaves’ without continuity with the surrounding socio-spatial structures. Fragmentation is often studied from the housing perspective with the rise of gated communities.
My purpose is to deviate the focus towards luxury consumption supported by two lines of reasoning that converge in the recent acceleration of the fragmentation’s process: the value of investment associated with real estate and some luxury goods; and the consumption of experiences and ambiances, with their physical and social components, which goes beyond shops to restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs. Giving continuity to previous work, this presentation intends to bring some reflexions on the trends presented by consumption of higher order goods and services that also make them pillars of the fragmentation processes.
Essentially theoretical and drawing on a variety of documents, the research is complemented by observation, some interviews, and illustrative examples, mainly from European cities.
Mots clés : socio-spatial fragmentation|experiences of consumption|luxury and space|consuming places
A102696TB