Indicadores de sustentabilidade urbana para pequenos municípios brasileiros : uma abordagem participativa em Conde/ PB

Abstract

The urbanization of Brazilian cities has contributed to the generation of serious social and environmental problems, leading territories to expand in search of development that is not always best suited to their needs. In this scenario, indicators are essential tools for managing and planning complex urban systems. Included in this problem, strategies for the management and planning of small towns can be considered a challenge, since the incipient production of research and public policies adapted to their specificities has contributed to their stagnation. Based on these and other arguments, the main objective of this research was to propose, in a participatory way, a system of urban sustainability indicators for small towns, capable of generating more consistent and reliable results on urban problems and contributing to the formulation and implementation of urban management and planning policies. Methodologically, exploratory research was carried out using secondary and primary data, both quantitative and qualitative. The initial matrix was based on the adaptation and prioritization of the PCS, IDSC-BR, and ICES indicator systems. To validate the proposed system, Conde, a small municipality located on the southern coast of the State of Paraíba, was chosen as the study area. It has a territorial area of 171.27 km² and an estimated population of 27,605 inhabitants. The city is under pressure from accelerated urban growth, which has fragmented the city into two distinct nuclei: the Sede, with its administrative vocation, and the Jacumã district, which concentrates on nine beaches with scenic potential, environmental fragility, and strong real estate speculation. Based on the participatory phase and its application, the final matrix of the Urban Sustainability Indicator System for Small Municipalities (SISU-PM) was prioritized and built collectively, resulting in 56 indicators divided into 7 dimensions covering the 17 SDGs. These indicators were categorized using colors that represent the 3 levels of sustainability identified in the municipality. The resulting semaphorization allowed a systemic reading of the interrelationships between the problems identified, demonstrating the importance of the complex approach to evaluating urban sustainability and supporting the construction of 7 macro-guidelines and strategic actions aimed at local sustainability, allowing their continuous monitoring. Finally, it was found that SISU-PM is efficient for measuring urban sustainability in the area studied and that the methodology developed for generating and applying the indicators could be useful in similar scenarios, that is, in other small towns.