Percepção sobre a cidade de Juiz de Fora (MG) e suas representações por meio de mapas mentais

Abstract

This research seeks to analyze the perceptions that young students have about Juiz de Fora city, using the mental maps as a way of representing this urban space. Juiz de Fora city can be apprehended in many ways, mainly, through the everyday experience of its inhabitants. The experience is a pratice that unfolds in a geographic space, which is lived, occupied and inhabited. One of the ways to experience the geographic space of the city is through perception, which can be considered the first formo f world knowledge. This kind of knowledge is loaded with subjectivity, because it is a reflection of what each one lives. In Cartography, subjectivity is found in alternative formas of representation of space, which the lived and perceived world is taken into account through the spatial experiences of the subjects, thus, as alternative forms of representation, there are mental maps. With guidelines on qualitative methodology, case study 3rd year of High School students of Colégio de Aplicação João XXIII. Having said that, this research aims to know and analyze the perception that young students have about Juiz de Fora and how they would represent it through mental maps. The maps represent commom spaces in the city, showing a little of young students routine, besides to presenting certain individualities and perceptions about Juiz de Fora. Thereby, it was noted that thew urban perception of young students is associated with their school routine and its leisure spaces in the city, whether public or private.