Verde para que(m) te quero: análise da relação entre fatores socioeconômicos e a distribuição espacial de praças nos bairros de Fortaleza

Abstract

Squares are among the public spaces where people can connect with natural environments inside urban landscapes. Squares can be defined as public open spaces where green elements can be abundant and social interaction takes place. However, fast urban growth, as observed in Fortaleza, the capital city of Ceará state, in Northeast Brazil, may lead to a model of urban planning that doesn’t allocate a wide presence of open spaces in the city fabric. Is it possible that some sectors of the city are prioritized over others in the implementation and maintenance of these public equipments? Using geoprocessing tools, vectorial data obtained from municipal government databases were used to calculate the percentage of the area of each neighborhood that is covered by squares and to calculate an index of spacial distribution of squares in these city’s administrative divisions. The Enhanced Vegetation Index average value was extracted for the group of squares in each territorial unit. Statistical analyzes were performed by crossing these data with the Human Development Index (HDI), average income, relative area of the neighborhood covered by favelas (a category similar to slums) and racial profile of the neighborhoods. It was found that higher values in the variables HDI, income and percentage of white population were related to a larger relative area of squares, with more homogeneous distribution and larger presence of green elements when compared to neighborhoods with lower levels of HDI, lower levels of income and a higher percentage of people of color. None of the evaluated squares’ criteria are related to the percentual area of favelas within each neighborhood. The geographical distribution of squares and the presence of vegetation coverage in those spaces, therefore, is uneven. That leads to call upon the concept of environmental injustice, as urban and environmental amenities linked to these squares are concentrated at some portions of the city, excluding poor and coloured communities.