NEW METROPOLITAN FRONTIERS: THE SOUTH EXPANSION OF THE CAPIXABA METROPOLIS FACING A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ANCHIETA S CASE

Transcription

1 NEW METROPOLITAN FRONTIERS: THE SOUTH EXPANSION OF THE CAPIXABA METROPOLIS FACING A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ANCHIETA S CASE ENEIDA MARIA SOUZA MENDONÇA CAROLINE JABOUR DE FRANÇA THAIS GONÇALVES SARTORI Address: Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo Centro de Artes Núcleo de Estudos de Arquitetura e Urbanismo Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514 Goiabeiras Vitória Espírito Santo Brasil CEP: eneidamendonca@gmail.com caroline.jabour@gmail.com thaisgsartori@hotmail.com ABSTRACT: This article is based on research that tries to identify the territory belonging to the town of Anchieta, in the state of Espírito Santo, Southeast of Brazil, as a new South expansion frontier of Vitória, the state Capital, metropolitan region and as well as analyze the characteristic of this metropolitan insertion. The method used is based on the history of the production of its urban space, taking into account the examination of plans and actions. Although known as an urban agglomeration since the end of the 1960s, Great Vitória, made up of five municipalities, officially becomes a metropolitan region only in the 1990s, by the patterns established by the Federal Constitution of In the passage of the 1990s to 2000s, Vitória metropolitan region, acquired a dispersed character upon officially receiving, Guarapari to the South and Fundão to the North, totaling seven municipalities and currently reaching more than one million and six hundred thousand inhabitants. This paper analyzes the formation of new borders of this metropolitan region, considering the historical process of occupancy and planning, also regarding the forecast of implanting in Anchieta, South of Guarapari, of an industrial center and heavy duty services. It is a municipality of about twenty thousand inhabitants in which the new occupancy expectancy is increasing the land value and promising big changes in the metropolitan and urban dynamic. 1. (GREAT) VITÓRIA: FROM CITY TO URBAN AGLOMERATION Aiming to debate the characterization of Anchieta, a capixaba municipality, as a new frontier in Espírito Santo s metropolitan dynamic, this article is based on the historical production of its urban space, highlighting significant local aspects resulted from territorial planning in a state, regional and national scale. In spite of metropolitan Anchieta s impending insertion being immediately related, nowadays, to forecasts in state planning of implementing a broad industrial and services polo in the municipality s territory, we intend to demonstrate the historical possibility of this construction, including the future perspectives as a continuity nurtured by prior plans and actions. For this 1

2 purpose, prior to the focus related to the municipality of Anchieta, the following introductory approach is considered fundamental, on the shaping of urban and metropolitan Vitória. Even harboring some of the oldest urban areas in the country, with countless cities originated from villages and towns established by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century (Novaes, s/d. Oliveira, 1975), Espírito Santo and more specifically the region of Vitória and its surroundings, had a late urban and economic development, related to the growth and export of coffee in the mid of the nineteenth century. On this occasion the agro-export activities were done more significantly in three ports: São Mateus, Vitória and Itapemirim which polarized the state North, South and Central regions. (Campos Júnior, Mendonça et all, 2009). The effort to centralize these activities in Vitória began after the Republic, in the 1890s, through a government plan that aimed to converge to Espírito Santo s capital the distribution of the state production also involving part of Minas Gerais. The goal was not only to centralize the economic aspect but also make Vitória a populous urban center assimilating the political, economic and administrative function of a great area beyond the state territory. To this end three fronts were launched: the modernization of the port, the railway structuring, converging to Vitória s port area all state production and also the capital expansion project, expanding at the rate of six times the existing urban area, along the lines of hygienist urbanism (Campos Júnior, Mendonça et all, 2009). This venture took place gradually throughout the twentieth century, becoming in the mid of this century, the basic infrastructure required for the state s insertion in the industrial economy. Rocha and Morandi (1991) place the period between 1955 and 1985 as of economic transition of the state of Espírito Santo, when going from an economy based on agro-export to major industry, ruled by the coffee culture and steel industry respectively. These authors refer to the intense rural exodus that happened in the state, initially brought about by the agricultural crisis caused by eradication of coffee culture followed by the implementation of major industries fostered by the so-called great industrial projects for Vitória region in the Second National Development Plan (Brasil, 1974). Pointing out that the implantation periods of the eradication program happened during the 1960s ( e ), Rocha and Morandi (1991) have alerted to the fact that the crisis related to the product value in the market still referred to the prior period, situated in the second half of the 50s. Table 01 allows us to assess the order of magnitude of the immigration that happened in Espírito Santo state, particularly about the rural exodus, by means of population evolution in Vitória and neighboring towns. Although this evolution has been seen, in general, in the rise since the 1940s, it has become clearer from 1960, when the agricultural crisis was exacerbated and the perspective for a transformation in the state s economic base became a real and tangible possibility. So, if until the 1960s the population impulse in Vitória and nearby towns was more closely related to the crisis in the agricultural economy, from the next decade on the main factor for the continuing increase in population became the 2

3 expectancy from industrialization. In this sense it is observed that since 1973 it had already been declared by the federal government the implementation of Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão CST (Brasil, 1974) north of Vitória, on the border with the municipality of Serra. This was under construction throughout the 1970s, being inaugurated in the beginning of the 1980s.As observed, however, since the second half of the 1960s, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was already installed in the same neighborhood and developed activities related to the construction of Tubarão Port. Thus, it is observed that even before the deployment of the activities at CST, it had already generated intense attractiveness to the site, due to the construction of facilities direct or indirectly intended for these services. (MENDONÇA, 1995). Municipality /State Cariacica Serra Viana Vila Velha Vitória ES (State) Table 01 Population evolution in Great Vitória municipalities Source: IBGE, ESET/ES, 1992 and Brasil, Data related to 2000 and 2010 complemented and updated by the authors. Before continuing on the narrative of the evolution of this urban agglomeration to a metropolitan region, it is still acceptable to draw attention to the fact that in the midst of great national projects, crucial for the installation of Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão in Vitória region, was also under way the installation of Samarco Mining, in the town of Anchieta, therefore requiring the construction of Ubu Port in its shores and the installation of Aracruz Cellulose in the town of Aracruz. The predicted location of those enterprises, Samarco Mining and Aracruz Cellulose, respectively less than 100 Km to the south and north of Vitória, has contributed to reach some conclusions. One refers to the strategic location of Vitória, with potential to perform the function of Central metropolis and polarize a future metropolization space. Another conclusion refers to the potential, strategically envisioned since the 1970s, in the Second National Development Plan, of inserting the municipalities of Anchieta and Aracruz, within the metropolitan capital. Even considering the urban complexity and population growth that exceed the national one, Vitória was not given the status of Metropolitan area until the Federal Constitution allowed the states to give this assignment. It was in this context that the five already mentioned towns - Vitória, Vila Velha, Cariacica, 3

4 Serra and Viana passed on February , according to Declaratory Statute 58 to be a part of Great Vitória Metropolitan area (Espírito Santo, 2005). 2. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF GREAT VITÓRIA METROPOLITAN REGION Nowadays, Great Vitória Metropolitan Region RMGV is formed by the towns of Cariacica, Vila Velha, Vitória, Serra, Viana, Guarapari and Fundão. Guarapari entered in the RMGV by the Declaratory Statute 159 from July and Fundão by the Declaratory Statute 204 from June Figure 01 highlights the seven towns, but it also allows visualizing the place of Anchieta and Aracruz, respectively and immediately, to the south and north of this metropolitan region. Figure 01 Great Vitória Metropolitan Region. Source: IJSN,

5 As a characteristic of metropolitan regions, it concentrates a significant portion of the state population, harboring a total that exceeds inhabitants according to the data from demographic census of 2010 (Brasil, 2011).Although located in the south part of the state, it works as central focus in relation to all state area being a focal point to investments related to industry, trade and services and a technological and cultural diffusion vector. Its territorial dimension occupies 5% of the total area of Espírito Santo, harboring almost half of the state population. The population growth rate observed between the years of 2001 and 2006 in RMGV was of 2,4%, a rate higher than the one from Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo metropolitan area. Among the municipalities of RMGV, Vitória the state capital is the most developed in urban and economic terms, although it has the smallest area and it is the fourth most inhabited town in the region. As already reported, the RMGV concentrates nowadays in its territory two of the largest industrial bases in the country, Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão (CST),located in the municipalities of Vitória and Serra specialized in steel production and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), nowadays Vale, an iron ore pellet plant located in the municipality of Vitória. All this industrial structure attracted investments related to services, mainly trade and real estate activities that support the secondary sector. The total income generated in the region represents 63% of the total GPD per capita (R$18.304,23)84% more than the average from the other municipalities in the state. (Vescovi; França, 2008). This development also contributes to a series of negative factors, such as unequal wealth distribution, air pollution, high violence levels etc It is known, according to the data obtained by the Unified Registry of federal programs - CADÚNICO -, in 2007, that 20% of the total population of Vitória Metropolitan Region was living in poverty. There is also a problem related to urbam mobility. According to the State owned Urban Transportation Company CETURB in the period between 1985 and 2007, the fleet of private cars increased 466% what did not happen to the public system that only registered a 73% increase. This is a complex and aggravating situation, even considering the state and municipal governments recommendations about sorting the metropolitan space and articulating public policies in education, heath, public safety, sanitation and assistance, as well as the strategies created by the Metropolitan Development Council of Great Vitória (COMDEVIT) and its alignment to the Development plan of Espírito Santo-ES 2025 (Espírito Santo, 2006). On the other hand, assuming that the RMGV has a huge potential for economic and urban growth, it can be observed that some impacting investments in the logistic area, indicated by the ES 2025 Plan (Espírito Santo, 2006) will be able to stimulate even more the secondary and tertiary sector of this RMGV and the state coastline. Among these, some schematic illustrated in figure 02, it is worth mentioning the following: Southern Coastal railway, doubling North-South road, enhancement of the longitudinal coastal axis, doubling BR 101 road, Vitória s 5

6 airport extension and expansion of the ports of Ubu and Barra do Riacho, modernization of Vitória s port. It is important to highlight that many of these accomplishments are still under study and since the world economic crisis initiated in 2008, may be reduced or even cancelled. However, to support the increase of the economic activity expected for the state, the Strategic Logistic and Espírito Santo Transportation Plan - PELTES includes investments in various sectors of transportation (Espírito Santo, 2009). Figure 02 Schematic map of the improvement in the transportation infrastructure until 2025, according to ES Source: Macroplan preparation with data from the Transport and Planning Ministry, Preparation: edited by the authors. It is still worth mentioning that nowadays Espírito Santo stands out in the national oil sector as a state with a great potential for exploring and producing oil and natural gas. In this context it is forecasted that the exploration, extraction, transport and processing of oil activities will bring deep consequences for the state economy, taking as a reference the process that happened in the period characterized by the transition of the agro economy to industrial in the state in earlier decades. 6

7 Petrobras investments in oil and gas production in the state of ES, from 2006 to 2010, were estimated in a total of US$ 6 billion, at a rate of US$ 1,2 billion a year (Espírito Santo, 2006, v.9, p.25). Petrobras has also signed a memorandum of intentions with Samarco, a company located in Anchieta and the Espírito Santo state government to build a new offshore operation terminal in Ubu. The state government has announced the intention of reverting the trend of excessive concentration of wealth and opportunities on the coast, mainly in RMGV (Espírito Santo, 2006). However, if there is a continuity to the present economic reality, with economic growth, consolidating the exportation role and increase in oil exploration (with the growth in revenues from the royalties specially concentrated on the coast towns) the strengthening of the municipalities in RMGV is expected as a center of convergence and dissemination of flows and growth of its municipalities borders, particularly those by the coast with a high gas and oil production. So we would draw attention to the possibility of consolidating the metropolitan expansion to the south and its impacts, being the municipality of Anchieta, located south of Guarapari, a focal point of interest for locating industrial and service ventures. 3. ANCHIETA AS THE NEW ESPÍRITO SANTO SOUTH METROPOLITAN BORDER FRONTIER. Anchieta is among the oldest cities in Espírito Santo and Brazil, established by Jesuits in the mid sixteenth century. They named the region Reritiba (that in Tupy language means the place of many oisters ) and stayed there until 1759, when they were expelled from the land by the Portuguese Crown. Shortly after the removal of the Jesuits, Reritiba became a village and received a different name: Vila Nova de Benevente. Its occupancy was that of coastal towns colonized by the Portuguese, that is, virtually facing out. Only in the nineteenth century, when the coffee agriculture began, the countryside occupancy began designing a new spatial configuration. All agricultural production from Alfredo Chaves, a municipality located northeast from Anchieta, and its vicinities was shipped through the Benevente River and finally exported by the port that once was used as entrance for immigrants. Vila Nova de Benevente thrived from the exportation of coffee produced in the countryside and in 1883 became a town named Anchieta in homage to the one who is believed to be its founder: the Jesuit priest José de Anchieta. Besides living in the location for several periods of his life it is the place of his death. In this context the city is marked by a strong religious culture, having as its symbol, besides the memory of the priest, now beatified by the Vatican, and by the church Our Lady of the Assumption from Anchieta, an architectural monument of special prominence in the landscape and listed by the Institute for National and Historical Heritage - IPHAN. Annually, during the celebrations of Corpus Christi there is a pilgrimage called Anchieta s steps that lasts four days, from Vitória to Anchieta, an allusion to the route that would have been done by 7

8 the priest. The prosperity felt by Anchieta, in the last decades of the nineteenth century, decreased in the second half of the twentieth century. With the construction of the railway in 1910 connecting Vitória to Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, Anchieta no longer harbored the port that shipped the coffee from Alfredo Chave s region that began to be transported by the railway (Anchieta, 2005). As already said in the 1970s, Anchieta returned to the state economic scenario for being the chosen place for setting up the mining company Samarco. It s a mining, processing, transport, pelletizing and exporting of iron of the company that nowadays has the largest share in the GDP in the municipality. The establishment of the company in 1977 changed the town characteristics. Data from the mid 2000 indicates that the secondary sector participated with 73,6 % of the composition of the entire municipality GDP. In relation to the GDP for added value, Anchieta at the time was in eighth place and had the state biggest per capta GDP (Espírito Santo, 2006), employing only 17% of the population though. On the other hand, 42% of the population was associated to the primary sector, accounting for only 1, 32 % of the town s total GDP. The agribusiness of Anchieta is characterized by the low use of technology, low productivity and quality, with the predominance of family farms (85% of the properties). Tracking the data from the 2000s, it can observed that although the GDP per capta is of R$ ,00, a number that is superior to the state and even the one from Vitória, the average monthly income per capta was of R$ 227,80 (table 02).This indicates that significant part of the wealth produced in Anchieta remains in the hands of a small portion of the population, a common social problem in Brazilian cities characterized by the unequal wealth distribution. Following the high GDP per capta, despite the average low monthly income per capta, Anchieta hopes to increase its economic growth, being nowadays the focus point of a new development phase, with forecasts of setting an industrial hub in Ubu, which provides for the construction of a Petrobras port with a gas processing unit besides the second expansion of Samarco. Among the Project mentioned by the State Strategic Plan ES 2025, some will have a direct impact on the economic and urban dynamic of Anchieta, as listed below: Petrobras new natura gas processing unit, construction of the new south coast railways, new offshore operations Terminal in Ubu and ongoing expansion plan by Samarco. Unit GDP (in R$1.000,00) year 2002 GDP per capita (in R$1,00) year 2002 Income per capita montly income year 2000 (in R$1,00) Espírito Santo ,6 Vitória Anchieta ,8 Table 02 GDP and income. Source: IJSN. 8

9 The historical case reported here and the foreseen perspectives from the current state plan o ES 2025 allows us to see not only the clear trends of consolidation of Anchieta in the state capital metropolitan sphere as a continuation of previous procedures, originated by II PND. The uncomfortable contrast between the high GDP in the town of Anchieta and the low monthly inputs of its inhabitants seems to remain as a tendency, taking into consideration the projects characteristics that will happen directly or indirectly on the municipality. Within the projects directly applied to the municipality, it is worth mentioning the forecast in Anchieta s municipal master plan for use in connection to the industrial and services polo, in an area already expropriated by the state government (Anchieta, BARBOSA, 2010). The occupancy of the area, still not settled has been disputed by international companies, but the real occupancy might be connected to Petrobras. The speculative occupancy of this area followed by the population via media, has already caused uprising oscillation in the value of the soil in the municipality, even if it hasn t become a reality, any change in the physical characteristics of the place that show real perspective of the construction of the so mentioned polo. 4. IMPACT AND OTHER PERSPECTIVES Examining the possibilities for economic activation, some socio-economic characteristics and Anchieta s strategic location it can be seen that the possible impacts and consequences of forecast investments, particularly the ones related to the industrial and service poles, must intensify existing situations and expand beyond the municipal context. The great amount of workers in town due to Samarco and Ubu Port s structure and activity characteristic, along the years, has substantially changed the local real estate dynamic. Because of this differentiated demand, hotels and inns had their services contracted exclusively by subcontracted firms to host their employees. The same happens to houses rented continuously for the same purpose. This procedure is overlapping, as choice, in lieu of renting for vacationers, once a common procedure in Anchieta as well as all state coast towns. As a consequence a change in the social local dynamic can be seen, considering the fact that the increase in number of temporary workers is interfering in the manners of using public space, such as squares, the coast line, and the collective space such as restaurants and snack bars. Situations like these will remain, and even grow due to expected population increase, due to labor interest, greater offer for temporary jobs, mainly in the investment implementation phase and in the operation phase of the projects (ES em ação, 2008, p.34). An expected increase in the value of the land can also be an indicator, further stimulating the already existing real estate speculation. This can be illustrated from the fact that large urban areas belong to Samarco, that keep them out of the real estate market (BARBOSA, 2010). 9

10 Therefore, besides the increase in real estate value, an urban expansion has been observed, inherent to Anchieta, taking places outside its urban area, in coastal districts from the town but specially in the neighboring towns of Piúma, to the south and Guarapari to the north. The continuity of impacts of such a nature is something expected. The Strategic Environment Assessment completed in November 2008, confirms that Anchieta has stronger ties with the towns from Great Vitória Metropolitan Region (RMGV) than with the rest of the state (Es em ação, 2008, p.75). The trend indicated by the same document is that this municipality along with Guarapari and Piúma, will definy a single territory integrated it to the metropolitan region and that this new territory ( RMGV enlarged ) will have more important links with foreign markets than with the rest of the state. The increased insertion of Anchieta in the metropolitan dynamic is no doubt bound, among other aspects, to the intensification of its port operations, the broadening of its specialized services relation with Vitória and its housing and social services related to housing to Guarapari. The state and private strategic enthusiasm seems to attribute to Anchieta an important industrial and logistic function in the state Metropolitan Region, in order to characterize the visible urban and social impacts as inevitable consequences of smaller significance in the light of the place economic potential. The expropriation of a large area of the municipality by the state and the indication, in the plan, for the same, of use related to the industrial and service polo confirm the state determination (BARBOSA, 2010). On the other hand, as one of the oldest places in Espírito Santo and harboring natural elements such as beaches, cliffs, mangroves, rain forest, lush flora and fauna and mountainous countryside Anchieta may also, to update its metropolitan insertion, divulgate and conserve its colonial and historical heritage, also favoring tourism. The historical overview that allowed the reflexion on Anchieta s insertion as the new metropolitan frontier also permits two digressions briefly presented here, by means of conclusion but at the same time alluding to the continuity of studies. One of them consists in the search of a remote origin of this metropolization, in times before the concept of metropolis. The reference remembered corresponds to the Jesuits occupational strategy in Espírito Santo, in establishing in Anchieta, a religious enterprise linked to the Jesuit school in the capitanias headquarter, as it was determined to other locations nearby Vitória. This initial territory occupancy strategy has since defined what the urban settlement afterward was, followed by great Vitória Metropolitan Region. The other digression, unlike the first, refers to the future, considering the accomplishment of the outlined projects and accomplishment of the growth of industrial and logistic business foreseen for Anchieta. In view of the contiguous urban occupancy, in several parts of the state south coast as well as the finding of oil in this region it is possible to establish a link between this area and the existing and programmed economic ventures in the north of Rio de Janeiro State. 10

11 The oil related business concerning Campos bay as well as the real estate business in the north of Rio de Janeiro state let us see expansion vectors in this state direct to Espírito Santo what may, at any given time or circumstance be added to the state south coast urban dynamic In this sense, the perspectives of examining the metropolitan regional potential defined last year as well as the possibility of a continuous urban seaside along the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, may act as hypothesis for new investigations. REFERENCES: Anchieta (Prefeitura Municipal de Anchieta). Documento de Referência para elaboração da Agenda 21. Anchieta, Anchieta (Prefeitura Municipal de Anchieta). Plano Diretor Municipal de Anchieta Lei Complementar nº Anchieta, BARBOSA, I. B. M. O lugar no contexto das redes globais: o Polo Industrial de Anchieta, ES - uma paisagem em transformação. São Paulo: Tese de doutorado, Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE. "Censo Demográfico Primeiros Resultados. 29/11/2010" In: acessado em 04 de janeiro de Brasil. Projeto do II Plano Nacional de Desenvolvimento Campos Júnior, C. T. de. O Novo Arrabalde. Vitória: PMV, Secretaria Municipal de Cultura e Turismo, ES em ação. Avaliação Ambiental estratégica pólo industrial e de serviços de Anchieta ES, 2008, Vitória: ES em ação, Espírito Santo. Departamento Estadual de Estatística. Anuário Estatístico do Estado do Espírito Vitória, Espírito Santo. Plano de Desenvolvimento Espírito Santo 2025: Nota Técnica: condicionantes de futuro v.6. Agregação de valor e Diversificação econômica do Espírito Santo v.9 e Desenvolvimento da Logística e dos Transportes no Espírito Santo - v.10, Espírito Santo: Macroplan, Espírito Santo. Secretaria de Estado de Economia e Planejamento SEP, Instituto de Apoio à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Jones dos Santos Neves IPES. Região metropolitana da Grande Vitória RMGV. Sistema gestor e informações básicas. Vitória, Espírito Santo. Secretaria de Estado de Transporte. Plano Estratégico de Logística e Transportes do Espírito Santo - Peltes 01/10/2008 Disponível em: acessado em: 26/04/2009. MENDONÇA, E. M. S. (Trans)formação planejada de territórios urbanos em Vitória (ES): o bairro Camburi. São Paulo: Dissertação de mestrado, 11

12 Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo, Mendonça, E. M. S.; Freitas, J. F. B.; Campos, M. M.; Prado, M. M. e Almeida, R. H. de. Cidade Prospectiva: o projeto de Saturnino de Brito para Vitória. Vitória: EDUFES; São Paulo: Annablume, Novaes, M. S. de. História do Espírito Santo. Vitória: Fundo Editorial do Espírito Santo, s.d. Oliveira, J. T. de. História do Estado do Espírito Santo. 2ª ed. Vitória: Rocha, H. C. e Morandi, Â. M. Cafeicultura e Grande Indústira: a transição no Espírito Santo Vitória: Fundação Ceciliano Abel de Almeida, Site: acessado em 28/04/2009. Vescovi, A. P.; França, C. J. "Aspectos sociais, econômicos e urbanos da Região Metropolitana da Grande Vitória". Revista do COMDEVIT, Vitória ES, Ano I, Edição 01, p , dez