Consumption and encounters in public spaces between Dutch and Latin American Amsterdammers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the integration process of Dutch and Latin American inhabitants of Amsterdam through the uses and representations of public and private spaces in the city. This paper tackles the issue of consumption as a potential barrier to integration among Dutch and Latin Americans by analyzing people’s decision-making process when choosing where to spend their free time.

This research concludes by stating that the extent of consumption as a barrier for people’s encounter in public spaces varies over situations, being especially affected by the weather conditions. The later was found out to be determinant over the availability of the set of choices in the cities, especially green urban spaces, and therefore on the relevance of economic capacity as a requirement for accessing to shared urban places.