Impactos da urbanização turística no litoral de Trairi/CE

Abstract

This research investigates the impacts of tourist urbanization on the beaches of the municipality of Trairi/CE-Brazil, located 130 km west of Fortaleza and part of its metropolitan region, a process that intensified from the 1990s onwards. The study analyzes the transformations of the coastal landscape resulting from its conversion to the logic of mass tourism and seasonal occupation. This phenomenon links the production of space to the tourism economy, redefining uses, functions, and social relations through new developments, in a densification oriented towards visitors and the implementation of specific infrastructures. The relational approach adopted considers the premise that tourist urbanization reconfigures the landscape in an unequal way. In this sense, the landscape is not neutral, as it materializes social, political, and economic disputes. It is a field of power, where urban planning decisions define who can or cannot occupy certain spaces. Tourist urbanization is, therefore, selective, reorganizing the landscape to meet the interests of hegemonic actors, frequently excluding vulnerable populations. The research methodology, exploratory and interdisciplinary in nature, proposes a critical investigation based on the documentary analysis of public policies and empirical analysis, carried out through field observations, photographic surveys, and interviews. Data collection and representation prioritize the visual and cartographic recording of the landscape, with the aim of identifying the spatial adjustments that have occurred. The research results indicate that, although tourist urbanization has driven local economic growth, this process has also resulted in significant negative impacts on the natural environmental heritage. These effects are aggravated by real estate speculation and the absence of integrated local planning capable of articulating urban development, environmental conservation, and social justice. The increasing privatization of the coastal strip stands out, resulting from the increased tourist value driven by the connection between public policies, the real estate market, and tourism promotion strategies, leading to a deepening of territorial, socio-environmental, and legal asymmetries.