Habitação social, contradições na participação popular e na morfologia urbana: um olhar sobre o Residencial Ribeira em São Luís – MA

Abstract

The constant necessity to develop housing estates to meet the housing deficit in Brazil requires special attention to what has already been produced. Sets where the housing models are imposed, where residents participate only on final stage of drawing the properties and do not discuss elements such as location, arrangement, plant, finishing, neighborhood, access to services, among others, present results that need to be studied. The relationships to be established at the local level can be better evaluated and are extremely important for the quality of the spaces created. Evident problems with insecurity, water supply, sewage, urban depreciation, drainage, public lighting and urban vitality shouldn’t be recurrent. The starting point of this dissertation is the identification of the contradictions existing in the popular participation and organization of the elements of urban morphology at Residencial Ribeira, considered important to the urban planning process when they are reflected in the reality found. It works with the hypothesis of social housing developed as a result of the pressures of the forces of capital, used to legitimize a structure of specific interests that do not meet the diverse needs of residents, the main beneficiaries, producing unsatisfactory housing estates. Therefore, the objective is to identify the contradictions in the social housing production model applied in São Luis, based on the analysis of the reality of Residencial Ribeira to be confronted with other means of participatory production and urban concepts. Social housing can ben understood as a government strategy and a mechanism for social insertion and human dignity. Popular participation, on the other hand, is seen as a fundamental element in the process of developing housing programs, through strategies that respect the particularities and dynamics of the elements of urban morphology, using their potential for local development. Visits were made to the set and structured interviews with the residents for knowledge and immersion in the local context, in order to extract and reflect on the characteristics observed. There is a dialogue between concepts listed by authors and between examples of sets with positive aspects, compared to the characters observed in Residecial Ribeira. This criticism of the models employed shows the low quality of the PMCMV housing complexes, confirming the need for popular participation with respect to the elements of urban morphology and contributes to reflection on a new housing policy to be developed.