Ruralidades contemporâneas nos interstícios de uma cidade: o rururbano sob o exame de uma crítica da vida cotidiana

Abstract

This thesis examined the relationship between the countryside and the city in the Sanga Funda area in the municipality of Pelotas, RS. This region has been home to agricultural activities since the 19th century, located in the old Tablada and legally incorporated into the urban perimeter by the Second Municipal Master Plan of 1980. The objective of this research was to understand how ruralities are expressed in a place under the effects of diffuse urbanization. Through the dialectical analysis of the Lefebvrian regressive-progressive method, socio-historical traces were sought that demonstrate determining aspects of the municipal economic-social formation and reveal the socio-spatial particularities found. The results indicated that the historical concentration of land ownership determined the formation and maintenance of customs that demonstrate a rural environment that persists and reconfigures itself. Through the itinerary of the sociology of everyday life, the social reality was scrutinized and the primary and secondary sources were interpreted, using direct observation techniques and semi-structured interviews with residents. A variety of economic activities were identified, including agricultural activities on farms and by small producers, vegetable gardens and livestock for self-consumption, a large meat packing plant, shops and services, boarding facilities for animals, rodeos and mineral extraction from over twenty brickworks, established in a context of increasing urban precariousness. It was found that this is an informal settlement in a place surrounded by urban voids and occupied by low-income migrants from the local rural area or from nearby municipalities, at least since the mid-1970s. A series of important changes were noted, such as gradual de-agrarianization, as a result of increasing population density, the lack of public policies for small fruit and vegetable producers, competition with supermarkets and intergenerational labor discontinuity. This transformation is due to the real estate and construction markets, which are moving into peripheral regions with a view to capturing land rent with the approval of the III Municipal Master Plan. In turn, residents emphasized the value placed on a peaceful and safe life in the “village”, as well as a sense of community, combined with the conveniences of modernity. Contradictorily, some elements perceived by the interviewees as part of the desired “progress” imply a series of socio-environmental conflicts affecting, in particular, the quality of the air, water, soil and the traditional activities of family farmers.