O declínio da função socioespacial do Centro Educacional de Pesquisa Aplicada (CEPA) em Maceió - Alagoas

Abstract

The referent study aimed to analyze the hypothesis of the existence of a process of decline in the socio-spatial function developed by the Educational Center for Applied Research (Cepa) as a public basic education apparatus created and maintained by the State Secretariat for Education of Alagoas (Seduc-AL) since 1958. The research followed the historical dialectical method in a geographical perspective from an interdisciplinary approach in the search for an integrative reasoning, which sought the contribution of other scientific fields for the understanding of the debated problem, such as History, Pedagogy, Architecture and Urbanism. Initially, a search was carried out, from the available bibliography, for the definition of the analytical category ‘sociospatial function of a public object’ that guided the construction of the research. Next, the historical process of structuring Cepa was analyzed, directly influenced by the architectural-pedagogical model of the ‘park school’ proposed by educator Anísio Teixeira in the 1950s. Subsequently, decisions taken by the state government regarding Cepa in recent decades were analyzed, which are believed to have contributed to the process of decline under analysis, such as the closing of institutions that are part of the Center to make room for administrative sectors of Seduc-AL and the opening of an urban transit avenue, the ‘Cepa axis’, which cuts through the Center and separates it into two parts. In addition, the impacts on the socio-spatial function performed by Cepa of its physical distance from the neighborhoods where most of the public it serves lives were also discussed. Finally, the impacts on Cepa of the socio-environmental crisis resulting from the subsidence of part of Maceió's soil generated by the rock salt mining activity carried out by Braskem S.A. were analyzed, which resulted in the emptying of the neighborhood of the Center and the closure of two of its institutions. The research was developed, mainly, through the consultation and analysis of materials and documents. The collection of data and information was carried out through consultation of books, TCCs, dissertations, theses, scientific articles, journalistic reports, photos and public documents. Finally, in view of all the factors and events discussed in the work, it was concluded that the hypothesis of the existence of a process of decline in the socio-spatial function performed by Cepa is valid.