Processos de urbanização

Este trabalho parte dos estudos sobre o espaço de Gaston Bachelard e Gilbert Durand, para esboçar os grandes contornos do imaginário do que foi a construção da cidade de Brasília. Trata-se assim de compreender o significado da construção não a partir das circunstâncias históricas mas a partir do significado simbólico das imagens criadas durante o período da construção, ou seja, entre 1956 e 1960. Do conjunto dos agentes produtores de imagens sobre Brasília, nos limitamos àquelas produzidas pelo ex-Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek, Lúcio Costa e Oscar Niemeyer. Estas são analisados tendo como ponto de partida a questão de como o espaço foi concebido e apropriado pela nova cidade.

Latin America is a highly urbanized region characterized by remarkable inequality levels, also reflected in an uneven distribution of opportunities, making socio-economic segregation quite visible. Since the individual possibility to travel and therefore access to urban opportunities strongly depends on socio-economic status and the distances to overcome, highly unequal patterns of mobility and accessibility emerge. The continuous expansion of Latin American cities originates specific mobility-related inequalities visible in periurban areas, which tend to lack some key urban opportunities and public transport services usually available in cities. Due to established and new patterns of territorial segregation, these areas may generate new forms of marginality in relation to mobility, posing challenges for public action and territorial governance. Our paper considers if and how periurban areas experience different forms of mobility-related inequalities in three Latin American metropolises in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia (São Paulo, Santiago, and Bogotá, respectively). We do so by examining the differences among urban core and periurban zones based on four elements: socio-demographic features, access to the public transport system, spatial continuity, and functional dependence. Our analysis shows that the three metropolitan regions have different structures: while Bogotá and Santiago appear to be more dependent on the urban core, São Paulo shows more autonomous and self-sufficient periurban zones. The analysis also highlights different forms of peripherality, defined by differentiated mobility patterns and modal choices that suggest that city-specific lines for public action might be needed.

O artigo analisa os discursos e práticas acionados por diferentes candidaturas ao pleito municipal de 1996 nas cidades de Natal, Maceió e Fortaleza, articulando pontos convergentes e simbologia típica do que poderia ser nomeado de “imaginário citadino de campanha”. A hipótese desenvolvida é a de que as campanhas políticas mobilizam símbolos sociais e ideológicos que se organizam em torno da construção de uma imagem de cidade. Seja na acentuação de “sua história”, na promessa de gestão das desigualdades ou acenos à participação popular, as eleições possuem a marca dos ritos de passagem. O artigo discute a cidade como campo de investimento simbólico que se explicita na luta por domínio de espaços e na emergência de uma espécie de “linguagem” das obras e edificações urbanas, vistas como sinais de eficácia e visibilidade na conjuntura atual.

International theory and practice have promoted state-assisted upgrading of ‘informal’ urban areas worldwide since the late 1970s, with various forms of monitoring and assessment of impact. Two independent studies of how residents perceive and evaluate such interventions have recently been undertaken for neighbouring parts of the upgraded area of Novos Alagados on the Itapagipe peninsula in the northwestern part of Salvador, Brazil’s third largest city. These studies start from different premises and have been implemented in very different ways, but both have the objective of permitting the ‘voice’ of the residents to be heard concerning the upgrading process. Comparing them helps highlight the essential ‘fuzzy’ nature of values concerning urban interventions of this nature and leaves us with thoughtprovoking questions concerning the role of local society in relation to the state in urban development, and the potential this has for on-going forms of urban management in cities which are emerging globally.

The housing shortage in Brazil, which is currently estimated at 5.5 million units, is the constant subject of architectural and urbanistic studies. The theoretical affiliations and methodological tools used in these studies are diverse and, as befits the complexity of the issues involved, utilise ideologies and methods from several fields—even antagonistic ideologies and methods. In Brazil, there is a consensus on the need to reorganise cities, in which approximately 84% of the population lives, through strategies that address the relationship between social housing and urban density. This need exists primarily in major metropolises, where rapid and abstruse growth overcomes collective and sustainable practices. This paper analyzes the relationship between urban policies and social housing in the redevelopment process occurring in the central area of São Paulo. It focuses on transformations that occurred during the beginning of the 21st century, a period when Brazil was prominent in terms of economic growth in the international arena. As a case study, it focuses on the Habitasampa architectural competition, which is considered to be one of the most innovative and important contests during this period. This analysis of the winning Habitasampa project designs, in terms of their theoretical and political frameworks, will help create new methodological guidelines for the preparation of urban plans and policies related to social housing in dense urban areas.

The building sector has a significant environmental impact and environmental rating systems could indicate some guidelines for achieving sustainable developments. There are several systems, but the certifications in general are adjusted to peculiar conditions of developing countries. The Brazilian bank Caixa Economica Federal created and is responsible to assign the Selo Casa Azul (“Blue House Seal”). This certification is apparently the most applicable to Brazilian conditions. However, there are few studies about the procedures for analysis of housing projects. The aim of this study is to analyse the adequacy of typical housing developments with respect to Selo Casa Azul criteria by verifying existing facilities and considering the limitations of real projects. This research analyses 13 developments certified by the bank and seven new projects in Caxias do Sul, a city in southern Brazil. As a result, we found that the Selo Casa Azul constitutes a viable tool, demonstrating the relative ease of application. We verify that some criteria were not present in any of these projects and that alignment with Selo's criteria depends on a company's strategy, no matter the economic standard of its buildings. Lastly, we observe that most actions needed to reach unsatisfied criteria may be solved in the design stage, and these modifications do not require large investments. This study aims to contribute to the discussion about sustainable construction in Brazil.

Water is not only a valuable substance, but is also valued in different ways dependent on substantive social, ecological, and historical conditions. The concept of water value positionality is introduced to describe the dynamic ensemble of meanings forged from cooperation and competition in the allocation, use, and conservation of water. Positionality helps us to understand water conflicts as individuals and groups struggling to legitimise their valuation of water. The explanatory function of positionality is demonstrated with an empirical case study in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Hegemonic positionality depicts water as an economic resource required for regional development and urban growth. This has been increasingly challenged by sectors of the state apparatus who call for the monetary valuation of water. Beyond these two perspectives, there exists a vast range of water values articulated by the local communities in their struggle for survival and political affirmation. The conclusion is that, in the process of constantly revaluing water, there are temporary 'positions of value' that last and change with sociocultural and politicoecological experiences.

The idea of a group of developing countries with shared characteristics, challenges, and needs, distinct from those of developed countries, has been central to sustainable development discourse and policy for decades. However, in the years since the original Rio conference it has become increasingly apparent that it is difficult to sustain this notion of a single developing world. Within the context of unfolding diversity, a central claim of the present paper is that lumping all countries together under the expansive category of ‘developing’ risks obfuscating the complex challenges, solutions, and fragmented geopolitics of sustainable development. Instead, it is necessary to use the terms developing country, countries, or world far more selectively, mindful that they may conceal just about as much as they reveal. In the paper I proceed to consider a number of alternative national, subnational, and transnational spatial categorisations which might be deployed to better describe and/or analyse the evolving nature, effective governance, and politics of sustainable development challenges across space.