Paper short abstract:

Infrastructures, as subways, cause transformations related to the new urban topologies, to the definition of new identity limits and new city configurations. We use the case of a remodelled square to question how new identities are developed, and what is the way in which urban boundaries are being redefined in the city.

Paper long abstract:

In 2009, Seville has reached one of the main goals that its leaders had set for its modernisation: the "Metro". This urban transformation has brought to surface different things related to what in anthropology has been framed as "place." It shows us a particular way of being in the subway and in Modern Seville (what is called identity), but mostly underground the other part of the place is shown: its relational capabilities, drawing a new urban topology.

One of the places that have arisen as a result of this reorganization is "Puerta de Jerez" Square, where we are going to carry on our ethnography of the subway. We are talking about a traditional area of the city center transformed today into a new urban place. Since the underground station was installed, this area has crossed the limits of a "historical center" to become the stage where, in a plastic way (performed landscapes), diversities are shown and identities that make up the current Seville are mixed up. Daily, in this place there are tourists, walkers, youth, immigrants, vendors, pedestrians and people from very different backgrounds.

The importance of this space has to do with its centrality in the definition of the most classic and traditional identities in the city. From these new landscapes and uses we question: Are they blurring the traditional boundaries of the city? What kind of citizenship will show these interconnections (socio-spatial). In short: What limits and / or urban boundaries are being redefined with these new landscapes?