Permacultura e sustentabilidade urbana: uma alternativa para São Luís do Maranhão à luz do Estatuto da Cidade

Abstract

Brazilian urban development served as a propeller for people movement from rural to urban areas, provoking a rural exodus and consolidating the industrial production model in the cities. This urban process was also responsible for socio and spatial changes due to the great migratory flow to the industrialized areas without prior planning of territorial structuring. In this scenario, this final paper aims to evaluate the legislation related to the promotion of urban sustainability, focusing in the fitting of propitious alternatives to a real ecological balance.The methodology includes bibliographic and field research. In the bibliographical research it is intended to bring up and analise works that support a deeper understanding of the issues mentioned above, such as the urbanization process in Brazil, the sustainability concept and the sustainable development incentive in the city of São Luís, focusing on the regulations set in the Law 10.257/2001 of the City Statute. Furthermore, it is intended to demonstrate the viability of the permaculture as an alternative and possibility to the social and environmental problems in the Brazilian municipalities. The field research aims to clarify and detail the permaculture movement by the participation of this final paper’s author in the Permaculture Design Course - PDC (Curso de Design em Permacultura in Portuguese) in the Institute of Permaculture and Ecovillages of the Cerrado (Instituto de Permacultura e Ecovilas do Cerrado in Portuguese), as well as telephone interviews with people who have experiences with permaculture techniques. Thus, this final paper seeks to relate the concepts learned during the research process of the City Statute to the demonstration of the efectiveness of the permaculture in the context of the São Luís city. In the first chapter the intent is to address the characteristics of the urban development process in Brazil and the São Luís city, in parellel to the sustainability agenda at the international level. In the second chapter it is aimed to analyze the democratic management in the municipalities and also analise the citiziens partitipation during the comprehensive plan (city plan) construction for the São Luís city. Finally, the third chapter will address permaculture itself and the possibility of establishing sustainable human settlements in the capital of Maranhão state, in Brazil. Keywords: Permaculture. Sustainability