Às vias de fato: o automóvel enquanto força dominante da urbanização de Maceió-AL após o plano diretor de 2005.

Abstract

The transition of agrarian to urban-industrial society in Brazil would be marked by urbanization processes as intense as dispersed. In this context, development based on a kind of highway progress would have as consequence the conformation of cities focused on automobile culture, so that the effects of this incentive would be lasting and adverse. Therefore, the idea of prioritizing the most sustainable means of transport was disseminated, so that most municipalities incorporated this premise into their urban development policy. In Maceió, this principle was established in the mobility guideline of the current Master Plan, which deals with priority for pedestrians, public and mass transportation, and the use of bicycles, not stimulating the use of private motor vehicles. However, the urban evolution of the city in the subsequent period showed indications that it had not occurred in this sense, mainly as to not stimulate individual motorized vehicles. Thus, this study was dedicated to demonstrating the dysfunctions in the urban mobility of Maceió, from the relationship between the automobile and the spatial configurations of the city, during its urbanization after the 2005 Master Plan. For this, bibliographic reviews were carried out in scientific literature and on the concept of Transit Oriented Development (TOD); analysis of the Master Plan and the Code of Urbanism and Buildings of Maceió, as well as the urban interventions of this period, with emphasis on the expansion of the city's road system; general characterizations of the relationship between the automobile and the population profile, land use and occupation, environmental constraints and transport infrastructure; and field and active observations of the dynamics related to modals considered priority. Thus, it was found that the legal devices themselves do not support in their respective scopes the non-stimulus to the automobile; whereas large-scale residential production occurred between urban dispersion processes and greater allocation of space for vehicle accommodation; whereas road infrastructure has been significantly expanded, especially with the construction of viaducts; and that improvements in public and non-motorized transport were unsatisfactory to overcome their shortcomings. Thus, the increase in Maceio’s engine rate became even more pronounced after the Master Plan came into force in December 2005, which indicates that the actions of public management in this period were not effective in order to not stimulate the use of the private motor vehicle. Hereupon, a set of guidelines was established, according to a principle of inclusive socio-spatial development congruent with sustainable mobility, which represents a proposal for the improvement of the urban mobility of Maceió.