Representation of a sustainable city: the example on practice of urban planning in the rivers and estuaries borders in the City of Recife

Rebeca Vieira de Mello (1)

1 LADYSS - Laboratoire Dynamiques Sociales et Recomposition des Espaces

In the search for the sustainable city, the relation between protection of waters and the occupation of its borders gain privileged space in the urban planning. However, speech and practice do not always walk together. In the city of Recife, Northeast of Brazil, the new public lines on the use of the borders of the rivers is a good example of the danger of the vulgarization of the term of sustainable development. The project of eradication of the precarious habitations on water considers the withdrawal of the families who inhabit wooden houses on stilts in these places and the restoration of the marginal zones. The local authorities legitimize such project alleging to act by the means of sustainable development; moreover, the real environmental impact in the area is rarely taken into consideration. Although the eminent risk of flood, it is from the rivers and swamps that this population takes off its sustenance.

Mots clés: Urban water; resources; risk assessment; politics; sustainable development

Domaines: Environnement et Société

Rebeca Vieira de Mello. Representation of a sustainable city: the example on practice of urban planning in the rivers and estuaries borders in the City of Recife. 8th World Wide Workshop for Young Environmental Scientists WWW-YES-2008: Urban waters: resource or risks?, May 2008, Créteil, France. ⟨hal-00593631⟩