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In order to know how Catalonian citizens account water controversies in Spain, we analyzed six focus groups carried out in Catalonia in 2006. A concept of ‘urban social identity' is used for our interpretations, having been adapted to highlight its interactional character. Tracking the spatial categories used in the discussions, we identified the variety of denominations employed to debate water problems in Spain. The analysis is focused on the most frequent categories to establish their utility and identify discursive actions that participants produce. Results indicate that speakers account the “water problems" mobilizing a common sense political geography that highlights the socio-spatial and conflicting character of water issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes a discourse analysis of the Civic Ordinance of Barcelona, adopted by the City Hall of Barcelona- Spain in January of 2006, in order to typify and manage behaviour in the public spaces of the city. The textual corpus we used for this analysis is the Ordinance project in its two versions. The Discourse Analysis methodology used in this study has been proposed by different authors in this field (Martín Rojo, 2001; Parker, 1992; Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Van Dijk, 2003; Wetherell, 2001). Results point to the emergence of two kinds of discourses inside the text, as well as the strategies from which both discourses allow the construction of citizens' identities as a new way of governability in the spaces of contemporary European cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]