Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction: Despite the great importance of rivers for human survival, as a source of water for human and animal consumption, a source of food, a means of transportation and leisure, and a scenic value, the situation of these bodies of water has been neglected in several countries. Despite the renaturalization measures found in some rivers, smaller rivers have been neglected and made invisible in a systemic logic of adapting nature to political and economic interests. Such insensitivity to water is notable in the State of Rio de Janeiro, where the basins of the largest urban centers are those that present (INEA, 2025) the most polluted and most uncharacterized rivers of their original watercourses, such as those in the Guanabara Bay basin. Despite this, cities that are still growing tend to repeat standards and solutions adopted by larger cities. The concept of Water-Sensitive Urban Design has sought to introduce water as a new protagonist in urban planning, as well as the interaction between soil, city and water, in an attempt to reverse the historical process of appropriation, use and occupation of urban land, which is generally ‘insensitive’ to the presence of water. In order to introduce measures based on this concept, it is necessary to analyze the historical process that led to the desensitization, allowing us to identify mitigation and adaptation measures and what should be avoided in the growth of new cities. Objectives: The objective of this study is to reflect on the process of appropriation, occupation and use of land in the North Zone of the City of Rio de Janeiro in order to identify the main factors that led to this situation of disqualification of urban rivers. Theoretical Framework: The research is based on the latest approaches to the concept of sustainable development, analyzing the issue from a multidisciplinary point of view, which includes the quality of river water, the population settled in its surroundings and their relationship with such bodies of water, in addition to evaluating the solutions currently adopted in light of the concept of Water-Sensitive Urban Design. It is also based on the existing legal framework that has proven incapable of reversing the processes that led to the current state of affairs. Method: The methodology adopted for this research included the following steps: selection and survey of the current conditions of the basin of a river in the North Zone of the City of Rio de Janeiro; bibliographic and iconographic research of the geomorphological conditions and the historical process of management, use and appropriation of the land in the chosen area, including the legislative framework, mainly from the second half of the 19th century. Finally, the possibilities of renaturalization of the rivers in the analyzed area were evaluated in light of the legislation currently in force. Results and Discussion: The method adopted allowed a space-time analysis that shows that the quality of the rivers was only maintained while they were depended on for supply and navigation, since technological development stimulated and allowed their denaturalization, always supported by the legal framework. The following main factors of insensitivity to water were observed: large amount of labor, mainly slaves, allowing extensive occupation of the territory for agriculture; lack of knowledge of measures and treatments to prevent the proliferation of vectors of disease transmission; disregard for the importance of the microecosystems existing in the region, the landscape and the leisure of the poorest population; development of techniques: railroads, river rectification, grandiose landfills; the claim to dominate nature, very fashionable at the beginning of the 20th century; inability of the government to provide decent housing for the poorest in suitable places; economic, political and financial interests, which began with the need to take over the territory and make it produce for foreign trade and which today serve the owners of companies and investors in the construction industry. It was also possible to conclude that the geomorphological conditions did not indicate such dense or poorly vegetated land use and that the legislation in force is not capable of reversing this state of affairs. In light of the theoretical framework, the environmental and social implications of such processes and the management difficulties to reverse them were observed. Implications of the Research: In order for the city of Rio de Janeiro to implement the concept of Water-Sensitive Urban Design, it will be necessary to include this concept in the legislation and to plan for the medium and long-term measures to be implemented. It is clear that this concept can still be adopted in specific projects, through restored stretches of rivers and linear parks, for example, which would also raise awareness among the population about the presence of their rivers, reversing the “ditch paradigm”. Originality/Value: The study is relevant to avoid similar mistakes in the few urban areas where this is still possible. It also offers an important contribution to small Brazilian municipalities that seek to adopt the same solutions as large cities, repeating mistakes that are already clearly harmful to the environment and society as a whole. Just as it is still possible to reverse the situation of insensitivity to water in large cities through specific solutions, it is possible and desirable for smaller municipalities to adopt new solutions, preserving their rivers with all the possibilities they offer to human beings.
Institution: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4410736579