Public Spaces and Territoriality: a Study of the Banks of the Ibiraquera Lagoon in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to explore strategies that can help develop public policies to ensure quality public spaces on the banks of the Ibiraquera Lagoon, while preserving its cultural landscapes and traditional life dynamics. The lagoon, which covers an area of 900 hectares, is located in the municipality of Imbituba, in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, and is connected to the sea by a narrow channel.

Fishing has been the driving force behind the development of this region, and the edges of the lagoon are dotted with fishing support structures that form interesting groups inserted into the landscape. These structures consist of three characteristic parts: the "trapiche" (access walkway deck to boats), the "fishing ranch" (warehouse for storing boats and equipment), and the "sarilhos" (boat lifting mechanism). These complexes still house traditional Portuguese canoes and centuries-old indigenous canoes.

The landscape composed of these fragile architectural ensembles affirms an "identity territoriality" and belongs to the residents' collective heritage. The areas around these facilities have been appropriated as public leisure spaces due to their landscape character that incorporates sensitive aspects such as colors, odors, movements, sounds, and organization. The presence of "sarilhos" and ranches uniquely demarcates the landscape, operating in the duality between urban equipment for contemplation and leisure and equipment to support artisanal fishing.

However, rapid urbanization has had significant impacts due to an occupation that neglected environmental and cultural structures. The phenomenon of gated condominiums has contributed to the privatization of banks, compromising fishing territories by altering and suppressing traditional paths that led to artisanal "fishing trapiches". This situation accentuates socioeconomic inequality in the region.

While gated condominiums provide a range of leisure spaces and exclusive access to the lagoon, the traditional population has a shortage of meeting places within the public domain. Those who do not live in the gated communities look for the few streets with free access to the lagoon. Invariably, these few streets merge with the traditional trails where fishermen access fishing spots and ranches, and thus the spaces on the banks of the lagoon around the "sarilhos" and "fishing ranches" are transformed into "plazas", places where you can rest, contemplate the landscape, and have social meetings.

What concerns us in this context is understanding the effects of the loss of "territoriality" or "identity space" of the local community. This process, which Haesbaert (2002) calls "deterritorialization", is related to inequality and social exclusion and is structured at different levels and rhythms. According to Guattari and Rolnik (1986, quoted in Haesbaert and Bruce, 2009), territoriality is not linked to the physical limits of the land but related to the individual's social practices and the set of factors that produce their reality and make sense at that particular moment. The presence of "sarilhos" on the banks of the lagoon linked to traditional paths can illustrate the resistance of traditional communities where it still exists, and its annihilation where the "modernity" of gated condominiums imposes itself; it remains to be determined how much of the legacy still exists.

In this sense, this work aims to map these fishing equipment and understand how the surrounding space can be constituted into multifaceted territorial units incorporating cultural, environmental, and landscape structures.