RESUMO

The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively disrupted the way our economy and society functions. Nonetheless, there have also been some positive externalities of the pandemic on the environment. This paper aims to evaluate the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in Brazilian metropolitan regions after the policies adopted to confront Covid-19. In terms of methodological approach, the study employs cross-sectional quantitative analyses to compare the period of 36 days, i.e., 12 March to 16 April-before (in 2019) and after (in 2020) the pandemic declaration. The data were obtained from the Sentinel 5-P low-Earth polar satellite concerning Brazilian metropolitan regions (n = 24). Thorough spatial and statistical analyses were undertaken to identify the pre- and during pandemic nitrogen dioxide concentrations. Complementarily, Spearman's correlation test was performed with variables that impact air quality. The study results a fall in nitrogen dioxide concentration levels in 21 of the 24 metropolitan regions which was observed. The Spearman's correlation coefficient between the nitrogen dioxide variation and the vehicle density was 0.485, at a significance level of 0.05. With these findings in mind, the paper advocates that while the pandemic has a significant negative consequence on the health of population globally, a series of measures that result in a new social organization directly interfere in the reduction of air pollution that contributes to the quality of the air we breathe.

RESUMO

Since the outset of the 201 h century, growing urbanization and its contingent waxing populations in Latin America, including Brazil, have come to have alarming effects on the conditions of life, especially in the areas of housing and healthcare for such populations. In this paper, we present data describing and qualifying the process of urbanization and its consequences for Latin American countries and certain Brazilian cities. Arguments are presented about the effects of the urbanization process and the development of low-income human settlements (slums known as favelas and squatting in tenement housing) on health conditions, diseases, and the death rate. The first part of the paper is based on secondary and quantitative data about urbanization, housing, and health in Brazilian and other Latin American cities. Governmental and nongovernmental data are used to structure the problematic landscape of the Latin American region. In the second part of the paper, we focus on a case study of a Brazilian coast city that has registered an intense population growth. This study demonstrates that urban policy (housing, environmental, sanitation, and urban transportation) requires an integration of health and environmental public policy and demonstrates the importance of the role of popular participation in urban public policy-making, and the potential importance of the Bertiioga Healthy City Project from the perspective of a better integration of actions, policies, and programs.

Assuntos

RESUMO

O texto, referenciando-se na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, coloca um foco na questão ambiental urbana, onde o ambiente não consiste apenas em dinâmicas e processos naturais, mas inclui as relações entre estes e as dinâmicas e os processos sociais. Duas situações extremas expressam a questão: os assentamentos precários nas franjas periféricas junto aos mananciais e em áreas ambientalmente sensíveis e áreas centrais, consolidadas, que perdem população, mas têm potencial de adensamento. A partir desse ponto, são discutidos os projetos urbanos formulados para a área central do município de São Paulo, núcleo da Região Metropolitana. Evidencia-se, então, que a inserção da dimensão ambiental na questão urbana, de modo que não seja apenas retórica, traz à luz as próprias limitações das políticas urbanas.

The text, referring to the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, puts a focus on the urban environmental issue, in whish the environment consists not only of natural processes and dynamics, but also includes the relations between them and the social processes and dynamics. Two extreme situations highlight the matter: i) the outlying settlements on the fringes along the water supply areas and environmentally sensitive areas; ii) the decrease of population at the central and consolidated areas, which have a potential to increase density. From this point, the urban projects made for the central area of São Paulo, the core of the metropolitan area are discussed. It turns evident then that the inclusion of the environmental dimension in the urban issue, in a sense that is not just rhetoric, brings to light the intrinsic limitations of Urban Policies.

Assuntos