“Urbanizar” a vegetação: O ideário dos agentes construtores de Maceió – AL no século XIX

Abstract

This thesis consists of an analysis of how a cultural relationship was established between society and the vegetation in the city of Maceió – AL, during the 19th Century. Its aim is to determine the different purposes the vegetation fulfilled in the urban domain, as a result of the strategic planning of those who designed the city. Thus it seeks to fill a gap in this area and make a contribution to the debate about how to add vegetation to a city and preserve it. The scope of the study encompasses the woodland areas and landscaped gardens (both public and private) that were planned, during the 19th Century, for the region that lies between the main urban center of Maceió and the harbor district of Jaraguá, that is located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mundaú lagoon. The underlying assumption of the study is that the way the Maceió region was colonized (which depended on the introduction of exotic plant species such as sugarcane), led to a cultural relationship being formed that disregarded native vegetation and was pervaded by the dominant principles of design of the 19th Century with regard to planting woodlands and landscaping gardens. From this standpoint, a qualitative and systematic analysis was conducted in this thesis, on the basis of a wide-ranging and comprehensive investigation of text documents, primary sources and iconography. The purpose of this was to highlight the unpublished manuscripts of the Public Works Sector of Maceió, which were examined together with the legislation and codes of conduct of the 19th and early 20th Century. During this period, vegetation served various purposes in the city which were determined by the different attitudes that governed the activities of the policymakers and civil engineers in the province. Until the mid-19th Century, vegetation was used for purposes of subsistence and had to be kept “at the edge of the homestead”, which implied there was a dichotomous relationship between civilization and vegetation. The first signs of vegetation being included in the city were found in the residential backyards which although designed for cultivating food and rearing animals, were spaces that were undervalued by the people and administrators. It was only in the second half of the 19th Century that the first schemes arose for including vegetation in public spaces through urban woodlands and the creation of public gardens. This was mainly aimed at providing more hygienic conditions, draining the swamps in the area, providing shade and embellishing the city. The documentary analysis provided evidence that under the influence of different theories, the vegetation gradually improved its status during the period under analysis. After having been neglected, it began to be valued as a feature of the landscape although there were still clear signs of a failure to recognize the value of the local flora in the native vegetation.