Os arroios no processo de urbanização de Ponta Grossa – PR (1900 - 1950)

Abstract

In the early 20th century, Ponta Grossa began to grow and stand out as one of the most important cities in the inland of Paraná. Development required a lot of water to supply the demand of both the rising population and the new ventures. Although the city was served by several streams, its capacity to provide water was low. Wells and fountains were not enough, being mandatory the search for rivers of greater volume of water for the construction of a system of supply and sewage. Throughout the process, from the search to the distribution, the city's first newspaper, "O Progresso", was in charge of informing the population about legal procedures, city hall decisions, residents' complaints, among other news in the region. To regulate the population, it was necessary a Code of Postures, which sought to impose certain norms necessary for the urban conviviality and above all, in times of expansion, to avoid the proliferation of diseases. However, the streams suffered the impacts of modernization, became increasingly polluted and seen as carriers of disease. Their courses then began to be channeled in order to mitigate the problem and take the sewage away from the city. For this research, some residents who lived near the streams until the 1950s gave interviews by telling how the environment was during their childhood and youth, their memories about these watercourses and how they evaluate the transformations of the urban landscape from here to here.