The socio-environmental management of irregular occupations in the areas of watersheds of public supply

Abstract

In a Metropolitan Area (MA), the impacts of urban informality are visible not only in the municipality in which irregular occupations are located, but also in the neighboring ones, especially when these irregularities directly affect their Public Functions of Common Interest, such as environment, land use and sanitation. The lack of infrastructure in the informal city may damage the environment and the water resources that supply a given MA, such as the MA of Curitiba, where about 31% of the urban area is affected by watersheds of public supply. Moreover, the lack of Metropolitan Governance corroborates the emergence of these problems. This research aims to comprehend the role of the Coordination of the Metropolitan Area of Curitiba (Comec) in the processes of urban land regularization related to fountainheads for water supply. For this purpose, we use a qualitative approach that comprehends documentary survey of plans, legislations and technical documents issued by Comec, in addition to a quantitative survey of the situation of irregular occupations in areas of watersheds of public supply in three municipalities. The results indicate that the socio-environmental guidelines proposed in the Integrated Development Plan were not sufficient for Comec to fully participate in those processes.

Keywords: Public Functions of Common Interest, watersheds of public supply, land regularization, Metropolitan Region.