Manejo de águas pluviais urbanas: a dimensão social de uma questão ambiental na cidade de São Paulo

Abstract

The capitalist city summarizes, in the heterogeneity of its localities, the processes of social inequalities and issues like access to built environments, the economical situation of its population, as well as the effects of the ongoing public policies. The city of Sao Paulo, a metropolis of global characteristics, has developed serious social debts throughout its history. During the raining season, Sao Paulo city becomes the scenery of constant social and economical impacts towards the losses caused by flooding. This fact is associated, among other reasons, to a meaningful soil occupation and its consequent impermeabilization, plus the flooding areas occupation river margins and valleys. At the late 90 s, the city started having a type of anti-flood measure, called piscinões , great rain water reservoirs whose aim is to hold the water back in situations of higher rain rates. This fact is strongly settled by the construction of Pacaembu s underground reservoir. However, the spreading of this kind of anti-flood measure, especially in Stream Cabuçu de Baixo micro basin, located in the northwest area of the city, left margin of River Tietê, hasn t had the same success, for some of the existing gaps between the two areas measures result in social dissatisfaction and they threat being a public health issue. This work, therefore, studied two anti-flood measures in two different places: the first in a noble area, and the other in the outskirts of the city. The result showed that the dynamics of managing and maintenance of Pacaembu s reservoir is different from the one existent in the reservoirs of Stream Cabuçu de Baixo, indicating a different action of the authorities concerning the handling of urban rain water and the society interests on the whole