Rio e ferrovia: a produção social do espaço urbano em Ponta Grossa - PR

Abstract

The development of the urban Ponta Grossa-PR, a medium sized city in Southern Brasil, keeps close relation to urban elements such as the waterbodies and the terrain. The goal of this investigation is to comprehend the various ways in which riverbanks and railroad areas influences the urban spatial production. From the beginning of the urban occupation, rivers and railroads have been influent. From road system definitions, to defining neighborhood boundaries, and, more recently, attached to urban spread and valuation tendencies. Currently, the social differences by the banks of rivers and railroads has entrenched. There is massive presence of poor in subnormal and risk situations, while the offer of luxurious real state products has also grown considerably over the last decade. This complex background is discussed with the theoretical framework of Social Production of the Urban Space, with added discussions considering space modelers. The operationalization of the investigation was made considering two different spatial divisions. Initially, bibliographic and legislation related contents have been considered, concerning the urban dynamics, especially related to riverbanks and railroad. Following, specific urban contexts have been investigated. A statistical analysis of census data related to housing situations and family income has provided considerable results. Pursuing the enrichment of the analyses, four cases were defined and explored with a tool created by PSSS creators. Each study case has been chosen as to represent the ambiguous situations reflecting poverty and excessive investments on both riverbank and railroad areas. The methods applied to this research proved to be effective and creative for the type of analysis intended. Riverbanks and railroads were confirmed as leads to urban dynamics. The results of the discussions involve the private domain over public urban areas, with the conjunction of both market and government interests.