Repositório RCAAP

This paper discusses intercity relations from the perspective of urban competitiveness, urban competition and urban cooperation. It does so through a description of a regional planning process carried out by a group of four southern Minas Gerais state towns – Itajubá, Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Pouso Alegre and Poços de Caldas – within the framework of urban complementarily and urban synergy. The chief purpose is to establish a new regional cooperative identity: Route 459.

Neste trabalho se apresenta uma síntese das diferentes formas como têm sido entendidos, discursados e praticados os processos de participação urbana. Parte-se da hipótese que a categoria “participação” tem sido classificada, expressa, identificada e usada em forma muito diversa em relação direta com as diferentes visões e interpretações da realidade. Caracterizam-se os enfoques, contextos e tendências dos processos participativos com base em três matrizes conceituais: uma primeira, polarizada, porquanto objetivos e alcances contemplados são opostos, contrários ou divergentes; uma segunda, gradativa, na qual a participação é avaliada segundo seu nível de ação e intensidade de mudança; e uma última, interativa, que analisa a participação atendendo sua relação com outras esferas de ação e outros instrumentos de gestão urbana. Para ilustrar estes enfoques contextualizam-se alguns discursos e experiências de participação nos países da América Latina e levantam-se algumas características e tendências da participação no período atual.

Basado en estudios ya realizados en las ciudades de México y São Paulo sobre los procesos de urbanización sociocultural, este trabajo aborda el cambio en la percepción espacial que desarrollan los habitantes de estas grandes ciudades latinoamericanas, como efecto del proceso social que acompaña la modernización y la expansión urbana. La ciudad se despliega en un juego de imágenes que van de lo real a lo virtual, situándonos en un escenario urbano que estructura en forma distinta a los ciudadanos; esta nueva forma de la cultura urbana nos coloca en el umbral de la posmodernidad, donde el territorio se organiza de forma distinta a la tradicional (mancha, pedazo – Magnani) y adquiere un nuevo significado social, con formas culturales de carácter comunitario y tradicional (étnicas) pero en espacios urbanos concebidos como propios de la modernidad urbana y eventualmente emblemáticos de la globalización, posando como escenas virtuales.

This article covers recent penitentiary design in the state of São Paulo. It approaches the issue from the broad perspective of the Brazilian prison system and the São Paulo state prison system and then goes on to investigate new changes in this matter and to make a critical evaluation of the penitentiary design and implementation process.

This paper is an account of the purpose, the programme and the setting up in 1990 of Development Centre for Urban and Community Equipment (Cedec, for short in Portuguese) run directly by the City Council. It also discusses the use of reinforced mortar in the production of light precast modules for application in workers housing and low-cost infrastructure.

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O trabalho aborda o tema da regularização urbanística e fundiária de assentamentos espontâneos, tendo como estudo de caso três favelas situadas no estado do Rio de Janeiro, no período compreendido entre 1980 e 1999. O objetivo é indicar alternativas e/ou possibilidades de intervenção do ponto de vista urbanístico e fundiário nas referidas áreas. Argumenta-se que, apesar de não ser a única solução para o problema da habitação, a regularização fundiária é um caminho no sentido de promover a inclusão de amplos contingentes populacionais os quais hoje moram em situação irregular; que ela deve vir precedida ou, pelo menos, acompanhada do redesenho urbanístico e que este deve ser realizado por processos que permitam a ampla participação dos moradores nas decisões a serem tomadas. Para tanto, são necessárias modificações das administrações locais, com inversão nas prioridades de ação e ajustes na estrutura organizacional, assim como formação de quadros técnicos capacitados, aspecto em que a universidade tem importante papel a cumprir.

Certain urban structures, such as row houses and condominium-building complexes, have open spaces whose use is limited to the residents of these structures, since access is restricted by walls and gates, which exacerbate social and spatial exclusion and change the urban landscape. The aim of this work is to present the open spaces found in complexes comprising row houses and condominium buildings in the city of São Paulo, describing them and raising questions regarding their use by the residents and the role they play in the city. Another aspect analyzed here are the consequences of these private (or semiprivate) patios, courts, squares and gardens on the open and unrestricted public areas, particularly those located next to these complexes. It is argued that the existence of these private spaces sometimes contributes toward the abandonment of public squares, streets and sidewalks, which case to be recreation and leisure areas.

The downtown area of the city of São Paulo has been the focus of different propositions aiming its revitalization, according to different approaches and emphasizing different aspects. This article examines a set of documents recording urban policies to the city center that span from the Basic Urban Plan (PUB), published in 1969, to the Urban Center Operation Law, of 1997. Those documents help us identify the explicit goals, the key concepts, the guidelines and the suggested strategies for that part of town. Based on this groundwork, periods are proposed according to different approaches and objectives, and the delimitations and concepts of the city center are discussed. Finally, some aspects related to the formulation of policies towards the central area are discussed, highlighting the role played by the partnership between the government and the private initiative in the most recent propositions.

This article analyzes the concept of urban improvement found in two Rio de Janeiro renovation proposals, as suggested by 19th century engineers. The first one, from 1843, was prepared by Henrique de Beaurepaire-Rohan, a viscount and military engineer, and the second, dated 1875-76 and prepared by the Urban Improvements Commission, was organized by Francisco Pereira Passos, Jerônimo Jardim and Marcelino da Silva, engineers all three. Both plans suggest that urban improvement should be a set of intervention techniques and practices that could eliminate from the city all spaces and habits inherited from Brazil’s colonial period.

The actual incorporation of natural elements, in a relatively congenial manner, in the urban planning process can provide a meaningful contribution towards a more balanced, reasonable and diversified urban landscape. This will result in a more diverse use of nature’s assets in urban areas, producing harmonious and well-designed urban areas, particularly those used by the public. The landscape can become an urban integration element at the various levels: it can help understand how the different urban appropriation and transformation processes occur; or it can be a fundamental contributing factor in the building of urban spaces, rather than just an addendum, a description or an embellishment technique.

The concept of work rationalization in the manufacturing as well as in the home environment has been valued by us since 1930. At home, kitchens comprised three major operational hubs, namely storage and conservation, cleaning and preparation, and cooking and serving. These had to feature continuous and compact surfaces, contained in compact areas that maximized use, something which matched the need to save the user’s steps and movements. The kitchen, centered around a triangle consisting of the sink, the stove and the icebox, and a window for a good view, started aggregating small and large appliances, including the electric refrigerator, introduced as of 1927. Nonetheless, this particular appliance would only become widely used after World War II, thanks to improved energy forms, such as electricity and oil, and greater industrial and trade activity. These factors took place concurrently with a burgeoning consumer market and building industry, especially that involving high-rise and high-density structures, which demanded ultimate economical use of space.