A urbanização de Parauapebas/PA : a cidade produzida pela mineração

Abstract

The urbanization process of Parauapebas is essentially related to the dynamics of mining activity and urbanization in the Amazon region. The production of the urban space of Parauapebas is intertwined with the logic of the large mining projects implemented by the State in the Amazon from the 1960s onwards. The city of Parauapebas, as a result of the Grande Carajás Project, exemplifies the ways in which mining produced the political, social and economic conditions for urbanization, necessary for the realization of capitalist reproduction in the specific place. Among the strategies in the implementation of the Grande Carajás Project were the opening of circulation routes, the construction of the Railroad, a port for outflow, the urban center for the employees of the mining company, the "company town" of Carajás. The emerging urban forms in the upper (Carajás) and lower areas of the Serra de Carajás (Parauapebas and Rio Verde) were discussed, evidencing the socio-spatial inequality that is reproduced under the logic of the reproduction of capitalist urban space. The analysis proposed a reflection on the various geographical scales, evidencing the specificities of Parauapebas, while highlighting the tendency to homogenize the urban space, where local particularities are incorporated into the capitalist logic for the expanded reproduction of capital. In this sense, the role of the State in the production of urban space in the Eastern Amazon was considered, emphasizing the influence of the mining company CVRD and private capital in the production of urbanization intertwined with the dynamics of capitalist accumulation. The reproduction of the urban space in Parauapebas reflects an imposed economic order that favored mineral exploitation as a growth driver. The dialectical approach of the study revealed the complexity of the urban dynamics of the city, with the specificities of a place rich in minerals that interconnect with broader trends of urbanization and standardization of space, typical of development policies (integration-reconquest) in the Amazon, implemented by the Brazilian state. Thus, the analysis not only highlighted the uniqueness of urban dynamics in the region, but also contributed to a critical reflection on the consequences of this mining-driven development model and pointed out important issues, considering the transformations caused by mining activity in the city of Parauapebas.