Abstract
This chapter presents four case studies (on the Brazilian metropolitan areas of Curitiba, Baixada Santista, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro) on the bidirectional interactions of urbanization and global environmental change through the frameworks of urban ecology and environmental justice. Very importantly, we utilize distinct concepts and methodologies for the identification and characterization of environmental risk. According to IPCC (2007), it is difficult to estimate all the impacts of climate change precisely, the intensity and frequency of extreme events, such as storms, heavy rain, heat waves, and vulnerability of populations in metropolitan areas increase significantly. The studies presented in this chapter were developed and have as a main focus the transformations in the landscape due to the urbanization process and the consequent environmental degradation in different regions of Brazil. Most of these studies involve the use of methods of analysis from techniques and geoprocessing tools for the integration of spatial data. Data from the physical and socioeconomic environment were collected, stored, and organized; those data were extracted from institutional sources and satellite images, which enabled the visualization and integration of information. In these case studies, risk is associated with society’s susceptibility to environmental changes, seen not only as a result of a certain event but also as a consequence of a social process related to structural urban issues that are linked to political decisions and measures implemented in the course of history. Questions addressed in the chapter examine different dimensions and complementarities of territorial planning and the environmental changes caused by alterations in the dynamics of the local landscape.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and IPPUC (Institute of Urban Planning and Research of Curitiba).
- 2.
Urban Plan is a municipal law which establishes guidelines for the occupation of the city.
- 3.
“Linhão do Emprego” sector (incentive program to generate employment and income in Curitiba).
- 4.
Besides the numerous disagreements referring to the definitions of urban poverty and the best ways to deal with this problem, the identification of the different demands that involve the poor populations in certain contexts is very complex as these populations are not always spatially concentrated within predetermined areas and rarely face the same deprivations. In addition, certain areas are susceptible to different social and environmental risks as a result of the historical legacy of several mistaken decisions.
- 5.
The qualitative analysis of environmental susceptibility was based on surveys carried out based on PRIMAC (2005) and PRIMADH (2006) reports provided by AGEM (Metropolitan Agency from Baixada Santista), while qualitative analysis of the susceptibility of households was based on the analysis developed by Jakob and Cunha in 2007 – Jakob and Cunha published the “Atlas de vulnerabilidade da Baixada Santista: diversidades socioespaciais” http://www.nepo.unicamp.br/vulnerabilidade/atlas/atlas_santos/Atlas_Final/index.htm
- 6.
Thus, it is noteworthy to point out the importance of the economic dynamic and the labor market in Baixada Santista, which can be considered as an attractive factor for people who are looking for better life and work conditions. The surrounding municipalities fulfill an important role in the economic production of the region, despite not being exactly the population of the municipality that, in fact, occupies the jobs offered in their respective territories.
- 7.
The metropolitan area of Baixada Santista, with a population that concentrates 5.6% of the population of São Paulo state, was responsible for 3% of the state GDP (R$ 727 billion) in 2005. In 2000, Baixada Santista had a household income per capita (535.2) just below the one of the state and lower than those of the other two cities of São Paulo state, São Paulo (623.8) and Campinas (569, 89). Concerning the income concentration, the richest 20% of Baixada Santista concentrated 58.3% of income in 2000.
- 8.
The periphery of the metropolitan area of Baixada Santista was built very poorly through the division of rural and environmental protection areas. Illegal urban lots marked the urban landscape and shaped the region’s growth, especially toward the west (hillsides) and the south (coastal plains) of Baixada Santista (AGEM 2006).
- 9.
The industrial plants of the 1950s, notably the automobile ones, were settled on the banks of the highways. Old factories, located near the railways or in the central cities of São Paulo, were gradually transferred to new industrial areas along with road infrastructure (RODRIGUES 2004).
- 10.
Plano Diretor de Macrodrenagem da bacia do Alto Tietê [Master Plano of Macrodrainage of the Tietê River Basin] (DAEE 2009).
- 11.
The areas classified as unoccupied refer to the location of parks, protected areas, watershed areas, reservoirs, anthropic fields, and agricultural and rural areas. Such areas may be subject to processes of occupation in the future due to the illegal market of land or even to changes in the master plans of cities (the transformation of rural areas into urban areas).
- 12.
According to Muehe and Neves (2008), initially one must consider that “the main causes of sea level rise are thermal expansion of ocean water (eustatic rise) and the melting of continental glaciers.” Then, it is necessary to emphasize that “the level of oceans varies from year to year, in cycles of about 20–30 years, with variations from 10 to 50 cm in width, depending on location and time.”
- 13.
The increase of the degree of sealing of land has generated an increase in surface leakage and maximum output volume, decrease of retention, and increase of surface leakage velocity. The implantation of artificial drainage network provides a significant increase in velocity of leakage and peaks of flood leakage, and the occupation of riverside areas make the population exposed to periodic inundations in areas naturally flooded (floodplain).
- 14.
The increase of the degree of waterproofing, according to studies conducted by Leopold et al. (1964), shows that the flow of flood peak in urbanized basin can become six times larger than the peak of this same basin under natural conditions.
- 15.
It occurs when a mass of moisture-laden air rises when finding an elevation of the relief, like a mountain, causing rain.
References
AGEM (Agencia Metropolitana Da Baixada Santista). (2006). Relatório Final. (In Portuguese), PRIMADH (Programa Regional de Identificação e Monitoramento de Áreas de Habitação Desconforme da RMBS).
Azevedo, Z. P. S. (2007). Parecer Técnico sobre Drenagem Urbana no município do Rio de Janeiro.
Boone, C. G. (2010). Environmental justice, sustainability and vulnerability. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 2(1–2), 1–6.
Coelho Netto, A. L. (2007). A geologia e arquitetura da paisagem do Rio de Janeiro no século XXI: da degradação à reabilitação funcional da cidade e da Floresta Atlântica remanescente. Águas Urbanas: uma contribuição para a regeneração ambiental como campo disciplinar integrado. ProArc. FAU-UFRJ.
DAEE. (2009). Plano de Macrodrenagem da Bacia do Alto Tietê. (In Portuguese).
de Oliveira, M. (2001). A trajetória do discurso ambiental em Curitiba (1960–2000). Revista de Sociologia e Política, Curitiba, 16, 97–106.
Egler, C. A. G. (2008). O Rio de Janeiro e as Mudanças Climáticas Globais: uma visão geoeconômica. Rio: próximos 100 anos – O Aquecimento Global e as Cidade. Instituto Municipal de Urbanismo Pereira Passos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. p. 227.
FINEP – FNDTC/NEPP. (2009). Regiões Metropolitanas e Pólos Econômicos do Estado de São Paulo: desigualdades e indicadores para as Políticas Sociais /Regiões Metropolitanas. Dedecca, C.; Montali, L.; Baeninger, R. Org.
Francisconi, L. (2004). Trabalho e Indústria em São Paulo. Geografia de São Paulo. Representação e Crise da Metrópole. Org. Org. Carlos, F.; Oliveira, A.U. de. Vol 1. Ed. Contexto. (In Portuguese).
Fraser, N. (2003). From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a Post socialist Age. Published by Routledge 1997. Transcribed by Andy Blunden in 2003. London. UK.
Freeden, M. (2000). Practising ideology and ideological practices. Political Studies, 48, 302–322.
IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística). (2007). Contagem da População.
IPCC. (2007). Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. In M. L. Parry, O. F. Canziani, J. P. Palutikof, P. J. van der Linden, & C. E. Hanson (Eds.), Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - 2007. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 900.
IPEA (Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada). (2000). Monitoração da Gestão Urbana – Gestão do Uso do Solo e Disfunções do Crescimento Urbano da Região Metropolitana de Curitiba – Relatório 2. Curitiba, PR. p. 187
IPPUC (Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba). (2002). Curitiba – Planejamento: um processo permanente. 134p.
Leopold, L. B., Wolman, M. G., & Miller, J. P. (1964). Fluvial processes in geomorphology. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co., p. 522.
Macedo, S.S. (2007). Urbanização, Litoral e Ações Paisagísticas à beira d’água. Águas Urbanas: uma contribuição para a regeneração ambiental como campo disciplinar integrado. ProArc. FAU-UFRJ.
Marengo, J. A., Jones, R., Alves, L. M., & Valverde, M. (2009). Future change of temperature and precipitation extremes in South America as derived from the PRECIS regional climate modeling system. International Journal of Climatology, 29(15), 2241–2255.
Mendonça, M. L. F., & Silva, L.R. A. (2008). Indicação das áreas da cidade que podem ser atingidas pela elevação do nível do mar devido às mudanças climáticas. In: Gusmão, P.P., Carmo, P. S. do & Vianna, S. B. (Eds.). Rio próximos 100 anos - o aquecimento global e a cidade. Instituto Municipal Pereira Passos (IPP), Rio de Janeiro, p. 229.
Muehe, D., Neves, C. F. (2008). Vulnerabilidades físicas da orla. In P. P. Gusmão, P. S. Carmo, & S. B. Vianna (Eds.), Rio próximos 100 anos – o aquecimento global e a cidade (pp. 59–79). Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Municipal Pereira Passos (IPP), p. 229.
Muehe, D. (2010, October). Brazilian coastal vulnerability to climate change. Pan American Journal of Aquatic Science – Electronic Peer -Review Scientific Journal, 5(2), 173–183.
PRIMAC (Programa Regional de Identificação e Monitoramento de Áreas Críticas de Inundação, Erosões e Deslizamentos). (2005). Projeto financiado com recursos do Fundo Estadual de Recursos Hídricos FEHIDRO. Novembro.
PNAD (National Research by Household Sample). (2008). Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. IBGE/MDS.
Ribeiro, W. (2004). Gestão das águas metropolitanas. Geografia de São Paulo. A metrópole do séc. XXI. Org. Carlos, F.; Oliveira, A.U. de. Vol 2. Ed. Contexto. (In Portuguese).
Rodrigues, C. A. (2004). Urbanização da metrópole sob a perspectiva da geomorfologia: tributo a leituras geográficas. Geografia de São Paulo. Representação e crise da metrópole. Carlos, F.; Oliveira, A.U. de. Org. Ed. Contexto.
Rosman, P. C. C., Neves, C. F., Muele, D. E., Valentini, E. M. (2007). Estudo de Vulnerabilidades no Litoral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro devido às Mudanças Climáticas. Relatório PENO-9501. Fundação Coppetec. Rio de Janeiro, Dezembro.
Ross, J. L. (2004). São Paulo: a cidade e as águas. Geografia de São Paulo. A metrópole do séc. XXI. Carlos, F.; Oliveira, A.U. de. (Org). Vol 2. Ed. Contexto. (In Portuguese).
Schlosberg, D. (2003). The justice of environmental justice: Reconciling equity, recognition, and participation in a political movement. In A. Light & A. de Shalit (Eds.), Moral and political reasoning in environmental practice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Seabra, O. (2004). São Paulo: a cidade, os bairros e a periferia. In Geografia de São Paulo. pp. 271–311.
SEADE (Fundação Sistema Estadual de Análise de Dados). (2003). População e Estatísticas Vitais. http://www.seade.gov.br/index.php?option=com_jce&Itemid=39&tema=5
World Bank. (2000). World Development Report 2000/2001. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 294.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Young, A.F. (2013). Urbanization, Environmental Justice, and Social-Environmental Vulnerability in Brazil. In: Boone, C., Fragkias, M. (eds) Urbanization and Sustainability. Human-Environment Interactions, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5666-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5666-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5665-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5666-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)