Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad—conceived, perceived, and lived space—remains a foundational lens through which to understand how cities function within the contemporary framework of globalization and capitalist accumulation. This rationality, originally formulated as an abstraction of Euclidean geometries and administrative logics, has not been surpassed but instead persists by adapting to the morphologies of global urbanism. The expansion of network societies and the emergence of fleeting, deterritorialized spaces do not negate spatial rationality; they exemplify its evolution as a mechanism of flexible control. The spatial logic of capitalism thus accommodates both fluidity and fixity, absorbing the symbolic and experiential dimensions of lived space into its operational terrain. Franco Farinelli’s insistence on distinguishing space as a rational construct, independent of place and culture, reinforces this reading, making clear that spatial rationality is not obsolete but recontextualized within a paradigm of urban fragmentation and global flows. An example lies in the coexistence of digital connectivity and physical estrangement, where city users navigate smart infrastructure while remaining alienated from the political and symbolic meaning of their spatial environments.
URBS Editorial, 2017. La racionalidad espacial en la era global. In: URBS. Revista de Estudios Urbanos y Ciencias Sociales, 7(1). Universidad de Almería
