Aumento da população em situação de rua na capital alagoana: causas, efeitos e território usado

Abstract

In the city of Maceió-AL, as in many other capitals, homeless people live essentially in public spaces in the city center, that is, in squares, sidewalks, under bridges, bus stops, etc. These people have totally different perceptions of the urban space, precisely because they are not domiciled people and have the need to find shelter on the street, thus, urban inhabitants who have a fragile relationship with space. According to Decree No. 7,053, of December 23, 2009, homeless people are a heterogeneous population group that has in common extreme poverty, fragile or broken family ties and the lack of regular conventional housing. However, even without having possession of the land, homeless people establish relationships with space, since they inhabit and circulate in certain parts of the city, would they be establishing territory?. It is a multidimensional phenomenon, as there is an overlap of aspects and particularities intrinsic to the contexts in which they occur. From the bibliographic review, it is clear that there are few studies from a geographical perspective on the aforementioned theme, as well as there are many gaps in relation to censuses and demographic surveys, which makes it difficult to formulate effective public policies. In 2020, the Maceió Social Assistance Department announced that more than 3,000 people were homeless in the urban area of the municipality, so that about 1,000 of these people are concentrated in the Centro neighborhood. The Homeless Population (PSR) perceives the dynamics of the city and in order to survive, they often tend to focus on areas that favor economic activities, in order to perform work of a different nature and even begging. The areas of the city that most significantly provide opportunities for hygiene, food and safety issues will effectively concentrate this population segment. Therefore, the city of Maceió, and, more specifically, the Centro district, are characterized as the empirical field of this research. In order to investigate the increase in this phenomenon in Maceió, as well as the use and occupation of public space by People on the Street, a participatory research approach was carried out in the units of the Specialized Reference Center for People in the Street Situation and in the center itself. urban area, in order to interpret, reflect and analyze the data obtained. Thus, from the observation of the functioning of the social equipment, access to reports, forms of care performed and later tabulation of data, it was found that in the last two years there was a substantial increase in PSR in Maceió.