Em direção ao mar: transformações no bairro Miramar (1990-2020) e relações entre formas, usos e vida urbana

Abstract

This dissertation identifies urban transformations at Miramar neighbourhood (João Pessoa, Paraíba), in the last three decades, and relations between new forms and land uses with the presence of people on the streets – understood as an essential factor of urban life. Miramar neighbourhood, built in 1960 is located in the city of João Pessoa axis expansion from the center towards the sea; the neighbourhood has a privileged location with sea views (as the name implies) and has undergone many recent transformations. This investigation aligns with the theoretical-methodological apparatus of the Social Logic of Space and, more specifically with the theory of natural movement, that describes a cycle in which location of urban configuration influences potential movement and attractors, as commerce and services, which themselves attract more movement. In order to analyze urban transformations, 1990 georeferenced mapping was made based on written records, then compared with current maped data, relating built form – focusing on land use and building height - with urban configuration centralities, through axial and segment maps analysis. In a second moment, more specific analyzes was made in selected local streets, that exhibited more movement potential and different built patterns in terms of verticalization, typology, interface and land uses; these aspects were mapped and related to observed movement of pedestrians and automobiles.The study revealed, in the last three decades, speculative real estate practices, verticalization showing an 8-fold increase in higher-rise buildings and the tendency of higher building renovation in more central streets that furthermore exhibited buildings for sale or rent. More commerce and service were found on more central streets, showing similarities with other Brazilian cities and with the theory of natural movement. Considering real movement of pedestrians, places with greater land use diversity exhibited more movement, while monofunctional streets linked to "isolated" building types had fewer pedestrians, pointing to negative effects of more recent constructions on urban life, showing trends configured in the literature as desurbanism.