Privatização do espaço público em loteamentos residenciais em Maceió-AL

Abstract

The socio-spatial segregation has always been present in Brazilian cities. The historical pattern referred as center-periphery, with rich center and poor suburbs, is still present. However, it has been overlapped by a new model. Looking for bigger spaces, green areas and leisure facilities, especially the highest classes ensure the success of the so-called gated-communities. These land developments are located, in general, in historically poor neighborhoods either in the city suburbs, or in an adjacent cities. In order to protect the new residents, it is indispensable to close the whole área and to use security systems. The main question is that this closure makes private the public space originated from the land parcel, violating the society rights to enjoy that zone. The historical segregation that excluded poor people changes, and now rich people exclude themselves from the city life. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the loss of public property that occurs from the closure of public areas in residential communities, and to characterize, measure and discuss the implications of this practice. To empirically demonstrate this phenomenon, the city of Maceió city was chosen as a case study, where the main characteristics are: the current closure of existing housing settlements, or isolated streets by the initiative of their own residents; the significant existence of cases of poor closed areas; and the illegality of the great majority of those closures, in old and new areas, despite of the anticipation of this practice in the city’s Code of Urbanism and Edification, which defines the requirements to “housing settlements with controlled access”.