URBAN EXPANSION AND WATERSHEDS

a study of subdivision implemented between 2004 and 2018 in Chapecó, Santa Catarina State, Brazil

Abstract

Population increase and urbanization are recent processes with repercussions around the world. In Brazil, these processes gained relevance from the 1960s/70s onwards, with consequences not only in large cities, but also in smaller ones that already, at that time, exerted some regional influence. Chapecó, in the west of the state of Santa Catarina, south region of Brazil fits into this context and today stands out as an important Brazilian medium-sized city, a result of the consolidation of the agro-industrial sector. However, as in many other cities in the country, these processes were accompanied by socio-environmental problems, some of them a reflection of the interaction between urbanization and hydrological processes. Chronic points of urban flooding are present in several sectors of the city, as well as the historical emphasis on intensive structural flood prevention measures, above all, the river channeling. Faced with this scenario, this article aims to present a vision of recent urban expansion in Chapecó, having as its main element the locational relationship between the urban subdivisions implemented between 2004 and 2018 and their respective watersheds. Considering that watersheds are important elements that integrate the landscape, understanding the dynamics of urban expansion through the insertion of urban subdivisions is relevant to understanding the influence of urbanization on urban waters and essential for urban planning.