Entre o rural e o urbano: relações socioambientais da AEIS do Gramorezinho e implicações na sua regulamentação

Abstract

The global urbanization process leads to many impacts and, among them, the urban fabric spreading above rural areas, not only on its territorial dimension, but also through values and habits related to the urban way of life. However, rural islands have survived inside or along cities and the recent debates about the role of Urban and Periurban Agriculture (UPA) has reinforced the permanence of spaces devoted to this activity inside or next to cities, aiming the promotion of social and spatial justice, the protection of the natural environment or the citizen’s quality of life improvement. This research studies an area with rural characteristics inside Natal’s limits, Gramorezinho, defined as an Especial Area of Social Interest (AEIS) of food safety by Natal’s masterplan of 2007, although this area was not delimited nor regulated. Therefore, the following question drives this research: which socioeconomical and physical-environmental specificities of Gramorezinho base its effectuation as an AEIS of food safety according to Natal’s Masterplan? Its main objective is to comprehend the Food Security Areas inside Natal’s Masterplan, through the analysis of Gramorezinho’s context and to establish guidelines to its regulation. The chosen research methodology consisted of: (1) theoretical approach, with literature review regarding the relation between the city and the countryside, the urban and rural territorial planning and the Especial Zones of Social Interest (ZEIS); (2) empirical approach, developing reference studies about areas of similar nature to that of Gramorezinho, besides morphological, historical, socioenvironmental and perceptive analysis of this agricultural settlement; (3) conclusions, presenting, from the research reflections, the regulatory guidelines for Gramorezinho’s AEIS. The research revealed that Gramorezinho presents characteristics that allow its classification as AEIS, but with specificities that refer to rural environment morphology and way of life, although permeated by urban elements. It is concluded that the regulation of Gramorezinho’s AEIS, considering its specificities, can guarantee its population permanence and the perpetuation of their way of life, facing the speculative and land valuation processes related to the advance of urbanization.