What cards should be put into play to decipher the contemporary city? First, we identify two narrative figures of human geography: the paratactic space and the liminary space. Next, we illuminate a specific type of governance capacity: governance, in particular the e-governance. With these narrative figures and this type of governance, we systematized an analysis that deciphers the meanings of the besieged metropolis, using Stephen Graham's expression from “Cities Under Siege: the new military urbanism”. Our guiding question is the tension between the territorial action of the subjects of the besieged metropolis and the ICT resources applied to local territorial governance. The ethical-political horizon of this question consists in the promotion of legitimate spaces, opposed to the spaces of order and those of war, as defined by Jacques Lévy. We use the category of “territoriante” to designate the subjects of the multiplied city, those inhabitants of variable geographies in cities of variable (power) geometries, quoting Francesc Muñoz and Doreen Massey. Once established these game cards, we move on to the implication of ICT in territorial governance as a “dispositif spatial”. Thus, e-governance is made explicit in its triptych realization as i) citizen satisfaction with computerized public services; ii) set of digital tools used by governments; and iii) decision-making process mediated by digital resources that involves citizens, institutions, organizations and companies. Thus, we apply this third concept – based on the sociopolitical interactions of daily life in Rio – to the use of the “Onde Tem Tiroteio” (Where Is Shooting) and “Fogo Cruzado” (Cross-Fire) applications, aiming to elucidate the transformations in the territory mediated by the everiday life of ICTs. Under these circumstances of daily violence, the territorial actions of citizens combine e-governance with informal governance, redesigning the political geography of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Mots clés : Electronic governance|Informal governance|Public security|Liminary space|Besieged city
A103476IL