Atividades físicas no uso da cidade: percepção ambiental e apropriação de vias requalificadas na cidade de Pelotas/RS

Abstract

Physical activity is present in the daily lives of most people, most of them do it without even realizing it, like walking with (or without) towards a destination or taking a bike to go to a friend, for example. Many actions related to acts like these are provided by the physical environment, especially roads, flowerbeds, sidewalks and traffic lanes. The concerns of public bodies with the quality of urban roads in terms of encouraging mobility have been emerging. In view of this, part of the efforts to improve public spaces are focused on the requalification of urban roads which have a high investment value. However, these investments often do not include user evaluations regarding the works delivered. In addition, studies that address physical activities related to public space largely infer about spaces in squares, parks or where specific furniture is present (outdoor gyms). This work has an interdisciplinary character, based on contents from the areas of urbanism, physical education and environmental psychology. It arises from the need to link the post-occupancy assessment of roads that provide different types of physical activities with the ways users perceive and interact with these environments. The quantitative-qualitative methodological approach takes place in sections of Avenue Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (JK) and Avenue Domingos de Almeida (DA) in Pelotas, RS. The two avenues underwent a restructuring process at different levels of intervention through resources from the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) – Mobility Medium-sized cities and have a great historical role and in the city's road hierarchy. Through the interaction of documentary, metric and photographic surveys, the on-site analysis found the lack of compatibility of some elements in the execution of JK Avenue and lack of maintenance in DA. The interpretation of data obtained by behavioral maps and interviews showed the predominance of men in these spaces linked to physical activities of displacement. Users' perception of use in continuous leisure physical activity was directly related to evaluation criteria based on sensations of safety and thermal and aesthetic comfort.