The research deals with the municipality of São Gonçalo, a region whose population ranges from 900 to 1,000,000 people, with a poverty rate of 39.86% in 2007. The area has a well-known and publicised characteristic, including by the IBGE: that of a dormitory city. This fact is reflected in the population's relationship with public authorities, with a clear disregard for the issue of local memory. The study analyses how the city is affected, and what implications there are in the absence of cultural spaces and places of memory, and their connection with the local socio-economic situation.