Título en español.

Abstract

This article describes the internal structure and spatial organization of prostitution in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For many years, this activity defined many areas of nightly activity within the city. The intervention of the Puerto Rican government was minimal for years. In the 1990‘s, the streetwalker‘s areas in San Juan were spatially organized as any tertiary activity. Many spatial principles of location, size, specialization and distance of the Central Place Theory were observed during this period. In 1998, the government organized programs to eliminate the streetwalkers and related activities in many areas including the major nodal places. However, beyond elimination, this activity was spatially reorganized within the urban core. The emerging spatial reconfiguration also shows many principles of the Central Place Theory. The spatial reconfiguration of streetwalking invalidates the official argument of success in the elimination of this activity. Theoretically, this experience has showed the valid application of the Central Place Theory in understanding many contemporary informal tertiary activities in our society.