Espaço e economia urbana em Maranguape

Abstract

Maranguape is currently the fourth most populous municipality in the Fortaleza Metropolitan Region (RMF), and also ranks fourth in terms of commercial establishments and industrial companies, indicative of its economic importance among the 19 municipalities in the region. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, when cotton farming in Ceará was at its peak, the municipality was one of the main producers, and the quality of Maranguape's cotton was appreciated nationally and internationally. The city's growth, linked to cotton farming, was remarkable, and investments were made in urban structures and also in the industrial sector, as was the case with the Maranguape Factory, a pioneer in the textile industry in the municipality. Home to part of the history of local industrial development, the factory, in its different administrations, in addition to its importance to the municipal economy and job creation, was an important social action facility in the community. The study therefore seeks to understand the economic importance of this building, which has now been repurposed into a commercial courtyard, shedding light on the prominence that the tertiary sector has achieved and its reverberations in the production of space. The aim is to analyze the role and importance of the Maranguape Textile Factory (FATEMA) for the local economy, its impact over time and its refunctionalization into equipment for the expansion of the tertiary sector, a supermarket. For this qualitative-quantitative research, the methodological plan is divided into the following stages: Bibliographic and documentary survey; Consultation of key informants; Survey of secondary data about the sectors that interest us in the study, such as industrial, commerce and services; Field visits and, finally; Systematization of information and writing. In this way, the work attempted to fill in the gaps in the study of this building in Maranguape and propose a discussion on its refunctionalization into tertiary equipment, a sector that has gained strength in the city center in recent decades.