Qualidade de Vida, Mobilidade e Segurança nas Cidades_ Vol. 1

Abstract
The focus of this research is the study of environmental risks in a slum area located to the margins
of the river Jaguaribe, in the city of João Pessoa (PB), and it also subjects the floods risks hillslopes
and landslides. In the same way, it contemplates resistance measures of controlling the
environmental risks executed developed by the population facing the risky situations and in the
critical events and finally it analyzes the cartography of the sceneries of the slum São José that
floods. To reach the proposed objective, the methodological procedures were: revision of the
bibliographical and cartographic material, reading and interpretation of aerial photographies in scale
1:6.000 of the year of 1976, 1:8.000 of the year of 1998, orthophotos in scale 1:2000 of the year of
2.000, plans of the slum São José in the scale 1:5.000. To the accomplishment of the fieldwork they
were used: plans of the slum São José in the scale 1:5.000, aerial photographies and oblique
photographs of low altitude. The results point that the scenery susceptible to provoke floods caused
by the full of the river Jaguaribe in the slum São José, face to the imminent risk is not very
destructive. The heavy rains that caused flooding, accompanied by major disruptions were reported
beyond the year 1984 with total rainfall of 1.878mm, the years 1985 (3241.22 mm), 1994
(2.804mm), 1996 (2.223mm). 2000 (2.445mm), 2003 (2.041 mm), 2004 (2.257mm) and 2007
(2.010mm). The floods happen with low kinetic energy and low destructive power. On the other
hand, we observed that they reach dwellings of good and low constructive standard bass, e.g. those
built in masonry and the ones that also use wood/zinc. We observed that the "flood culture" is
present in the morphology of the houses located along the sides of the river, and the inhabitants use
constantly devices of simple protection, which corroborates our conclusion.
Keywords: Floods, João Pessoa (PB), Resistance, Social Agents, Slum,
Introdução
O intenso processo de industrialização e urbanização, principalmente nos fins da década de
1940 e início da década 1950 do século passado, até os dias atuais, tem proporcionado fatores
negativos ao ambiente como desmatamento, poluição da água e do ar, ocupação de áreas
ambientalmente frágeis – beira dos córregos, encostas instáveis, planícies de inundações, áreas de
proteção dos mananciais, Áreas de Preservação Permantentes-APPs, entre outros, já que os hábitos
urbanos e rurais foram severamente modificados com o processo de industrialização.
Conseqüentemente, ano após ano, foram aumentando os problemas, relacionados ao inchaço
populacional. O acesso a uma moradia decente é um deles, já que os não detentores dos meios de
produção, sem emprego, ou até com subemprego, devido às suas condições de renda tiveram como
314