The production of social space in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Spatiality, Sociality and Historicity

Abstract The work aims to reveal the social space produced in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, to distinguish its form of appropriation and use of space through perception, conception and experience of the target by social agents. The theoretical model is based on the ideas of Henri Lefebvre (1974) and Edward Soja (2008) concerning the production of space and its triad. The techniques applied were non-participant observation, review of files, 233 surveys applied to tourists as well as 43 interviews to key people and residents. It has been identified that the area of Playa del Carmen has been appropriated for purposes of accumulation of capital, fragmenting the city and creating symbolic and physical class frontiers. Its population growth has led to an uncontrolled urban growth which ensues in social problems, causing uprooting from social subjects to the space.