Paisagens, ecossistemas, crescimento urbano e suas inter-relações: o caso de Capão da Canoa, litoral norte do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Brazillian coastal zones concentrate the majority of the country’s urban population. The coast’s urbanizationpromotes the vulnerability of the coastal ecosystems, which already have a high degree of fragility due to their biological diversity. The tourist interest and the expansion of the road network contributed to the accelerated process of occupation of the Brazilian coastal cities.The North coast of Rio Grande do Sul, in this context, undergoes intense transformation due to the expansion of the urban network. Itsoccupation can be described in periods.The beggining occurs in 1732, with the arrival of the Azorean immigrants. In a second period, from 1888 to 1939, there is already interest in the occupation of areas near the sea in search of bathing resorts for therapeutic purposes. The third period, between 1940 and 1995, was marked by a large number of subdivisions near the waterfront, which led to a series of emancipations. The fourth period, which began in 1995, is marked by the implementation of horizontal condominiums, mostly located near Estrada do Mar.Capão da Canoa, emancipated from Osorio in 1982, has a population of 42,040 inhabitants, showing a growing development since the 1970s, due to improved access to the North Gaucho Coast.Facing the significant urbanization of Capão da Canoa, this research aims to characterize urban growth and its interrelationship with landscapes and local ecosystems.At first, the regional scale is approached, characterizing it in its geographic, ecological and urbanization aspects. Subsequently, it is the local scale, presenting Capão da Canoa facing demographic, territorial, occupation and transformation of the landscape.Regarding the profile of occupations of the urban perimeter of the municipality's headquarters, between the waterfront and Avenida Paraguassú, the residential and occasional use by a population of high purchasing power predominates. After Avenida Paraguassú, there is a fixed income population with a median income, followed by the low income population, whose occupations reach the margins of Estrada do Mar.Along these areas, and also on the edge of Lagoa dos Quadros, high-end horizontal condominiums have been established in recent years. The urban layout of Capão da Canoa develops between two major ecosystems, the Atlantic Ocean and Lagoa dos Quadros. Both act as a natural barrier to the expansion of the urban network, constantly suffering from the pressure of interest from the real estate market.Given the experimentation of the Caponense landscape, advancing the analytical levels of the landscape as an itinerary for its understanding, the territory of Capão da Canoa was divided into landscape units.The identification of the Units considered sometimes ecosystems, sometimes morphological-type characteristics or socioeconomic patterns, which results in: Balnearies; Residential neighborhoods; Verticalized central area/intensely urbanized balneary; Waterfront and Fields and Wetlands.Overall, Capão da Canoa's urban growth model seems to be designed under a logic of short-term economic development only. The potentialities observed in the Units are related to the sustainable development of activities associated with natural resources, articulating social, environmental and economic issues, while the weaknesses relate to the pressure of anthropic activities on natural resources without environmental awareness.