Urban environmental conflicts and urbanization processes at Ressaca Lagoa dos Índios, Macapá/AP

Abstract

This paper approaches the environmental conflicts that have resulted from the urbanization process of the Lagoa dos Índios territory in the city of Macapá (Northern Brazil), which occurred during the last decades of the twentieth century. The purpose is to analyze and evaluate the forms of occupation of the territory, considering the history of that process, the agents that transform the space, the environmental impacts and the conflicts that stem from different views and uses of the territory. The methodology was: documentary survey, participant observation in the area and informal conversations with political-institutional, economic and social agents. We concluded that in the dispute for the territory of the Lagoa, all the groups involved try to impose their worldview in order to legitimate their representations and guarantee the continuity of their own way of resource appropriation.