Presentation of TRYSPACES

We live in an interconnected world where urban modes of action and interaction dominate. This dominant urbanity generates a worldview different from that which marked the twentieth century, characterized by the power of nation-states. Young people are at the forefront of these cultural, social, economic and political transformations. They are more and more visible in public spaces because their practices distort, disturb and push the limits imposed by social norms.

How do young people use public, physical and virtual spaces, and why are these uses often considered transgressive? Why would transgression be attractive, even sometimes necessary, for some young people? What are the consequences of these transgressive practices on the regulation of public spaces (physical and digital) and urban governance? What relationships (formal and informal) exist between young people who engage in transgressive practices and governance institutions? How do the regimes regulating public spaces compare in Mexico City, Paris, Montreal and Hanoi, cities with contrasting cultures and political systems?

TRYSPACES explores the relationship between the presence of young people in public spaces and the way they experience this visibility.

TRYSPACES has three research objectives.

Transgression: To compare how adolescents and young adults in Montreal, Paris, Mexico City and Hanoi use and appropriate physical and virtual public spaces; to understand how this contributes to the constitution of their identity, allows them to express their world view and to carve out a place for themselves in an increasingly urban and interconnected world.

Regulation: Understand and explain the consequences of these transgressive practices of spatial appropriation by young people on the regulation of public spaces and urban governance.

Intervention: Stimulate collaborative research between young people, researchers, decision-makers, artists and associative actors.

TRYSPACES is a team of interdisciplinary researchers and students, multimedia artists, youth workers, urban professionals and youth from Mexico City, Montreal, Paris and Hanoi. We have an inclusive vision of research and contribute, through the funding of students, to supporting a plural academic community.

Our partnership brings together twelve universities in four countries and as many public, associative and private organisations, working together through a collaborative and comparative research approach.

We work in four spoken languages by mobilizing information and communication technologies and various forms of languages: visual arts, dance, street arts, urban recreation, narrative mapping, but also public policy advisories, scientific articles, urban planning drawings. We work as a living laboratory, using participatory methodologies to co-produce knowledge.

Presentation of TRYSPACES

Six key concepts guide our work.