Paper short abstract:

We intend to discuss new analytical and methodological possibilities resulting from the combination of an ethnographic research on crack users of an area in São Paulo – known as ‘cracolândia’ [‘crackland’] and marked by many conflicts – and urban mapping data held by Google Street View.

Paper long abstract:

Our starting point was a fieldwork experience carried out by Anthropology of the City Study Group (GEAC-USP, http://geacusp7.wix.com/geac) members, accessible in http://www.vibrant.org.br/issues/v8n2/heitor-frugoli-jr-enrico-spaggiari-networks-and-territorialities/

Afterwards, we have integrated into a new project (not yet finished), entitled "Platform São Paulo: city, space, memory", bringing together professors allocated to distinct Departments and Units of University of São Paulo (USP) - architecture and urbanism, anthropology, sociology, history and geography. This platform led us to establish a relationship between ethnographic texts, maps and images (from Google Street View, from 2010 to 2014) of the region of Luz neighborhood, at the central area of São Paulo, investigated space in the initial research.

This specific approach to the region allowed us to explore relationships among the following topics: I - uses and movements in the streets, linked to crack cocaine users circulation; II - processes of urban interventions, renovations and demolitions; III - attendance and popular practices of space, in longtime terms; IV - various government actions, with different intentions and scopes.

Our goal in this paper, in this sense, is to evaluate the possibilities and limits made possible by this specific relationship between ethnographic practice and use of Google maps and images. It concerns to a more detailed anthropological understanding of continuities and changes in spatial practices on the streets and sidewalks of this specific urban area, with challenging aspects about the urban landscapes that have continuously taken shape over there.