Cities Next Door: A Social Research Experiment About Young People and Center–Periphery Cohabitation in Four Major Cities.

The article presents an exploratory study conducted in four marginalized spaces of four large cities (Paris, Port-Prince, Rio de Janeiro and Montreal). The idea was to propose to young people from these neighborhoods to present their cities in a walking, drawing and photographic form. This article presents the results of this experiment by examining the themes that emerged from these interviews, drawings and photographs. The spaces are presented in terms of descriptions of the atmospheres within them, racism and discrimination, beauty rights and pride, and finally actions of transformation, hope, and change. The similarities in the descriptions are extremely strong despite the remoteness of the places and communities. The young people emphasize the normal or intended normalcy of their spaces and are highly critical of government, the media, and ordinary people. authorities, the media and the ordinary population of the large centers for the judgments made about them and their for the judgments made about them and their neighborhoods; they blame them for the visions that emphasize crime and crime and poverty. Artistic and cultural action is presented as a strength in the face of negative experiences of these young people in these environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]