A cidade capitalista e a dispersão urbana: uma análise de Altamira-PA após a instalação da UHE Belo Monte

Abstract

The process of urban dispersion in Altamira did not occur abruptly. It unfolded gradually, accompanying the city’s economic “booms,” beginning with its founding during the rubber production peak, continuing through the construction of the Trans- Amazonian Highway (BR-230) in the 1970s, and culminating in the development of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant complex in the early 2010s. These events each contributed, in their own way, to the intensification and densification of the region's population, although the process was especially accelerated by real estate speculation driven by the dam's construction. Large land development companies, collective urban resettlement housing contractors (RUCs), and the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV) program contributed to a new configuration of the urban fabric, characterized by dispersed areas with low population density. This dissertation aims to analyze these transformations in patterns of land occupation and socio-spatial dynamics in the city, particularly in relation to real estate speculation and the rising cost of living. The research adopted a qualitative-quantitative methodological approach, divided into three stages: Pre-fieldwork, including bibliographic and documentary review of global, national, and regional concepts related to urban dispersion, as well as data collection from official institutions; Fieldwork, involving semi-structured interviews with community and public leaders, alongside in situ visits and empirical observations; and Post-fieldwork (analytical/comparative), in which the collected data were consolidated with GIS analysis, resulting in charts, tables, diagrams, and cartographic representations, along with discussions and proposals regarding the dynamics of dispersed urban expansion driven by real estate agents. The study concludes that the spatial production of Altamira contributes to a dispersed and fragmented urban reality, prioritizing the city as a commodity and leaving its most vulnerable social classes at the mercy of a continuous process of dispersion and peripheralization.