Interurban dynamics and regional planning: challenges for spatial sustainability in the Region of Ribeirão Preto, SP - Brasil

Abstract

Urbanization is a significant driving factor contributing to climate change. It tends to induce the expansion of urbanized areas and the degradation of the surrounding natural environment, mainly rural land. The expansion of urbanized areas in Latin American cities has negatively impacted built-up and rural areas, creating a porous, diffuse, and fragmented urban system (Reis, 2006).

Extensive urbanization has been the “mode of urban development of contemporary capitalist societies” and defines current metropolisation processes worldwide (Cardoso & Meijers, 2021). While each region has its unique history, culture, economic dynamics, environment, and context, some general patterns and trends can be observed in the urbanization processes of Latin America, Europe, China, Africa, and North America. Given that much of the urbanization is yet to happen in developing countries due to population growth pressure, metropolisation (from an institutional perspective) presents an opportunity for constructive and positive change, given that it brings together urban and regional scales and has implications for spatial planning policies.

Latin America is generally characterized by systems in which cities “swallow up” rural land while leaving behind empty, underused, and segregated territories. As such, traditionally shaped by intensive and expansive agriculture activities, rural territories in Brazil are under transformation and resignification. To better comprehend the urbanization processes in different contexts, it is necessary to develop novel approaches. This research aims to identify changes, their significance, and how the urbanization process spatially structures the metropolitan region of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil. The region of Ribeirão Preto is a global agribusiness hub with high population growth rates. It has expanded the urbanized areas significantly over the last decades, but it does not present a context of conurbation yet.

In Brazil, Metropolitan Regions function under the Metropolis Statute (Federal Law N˚ 13.089/2015), guiding integrated cooperation across federal, state, and municipal levels for managing and planning metropolitan areas. The Statute addresses public interests like land use, sanitation, transport, and housing through integrated plans. Complementary state laws enforce these plans, requiring municipalities to align local master plans with established metropolitan guidelines.

Regional strategic spatial planning especially plays a crucial role in addressing the challenges posed by the growth of metropolitan areas, promoting sustainable development, efficient resource allocation, and guaranteeing the quality of life in newly institutionalized metropolitan areas. Strategic spatial planning involves carefully allocating land use to balance the needs of a growing population with environmental sustainability.   

The research investigates spatial attributes within the urban-rural gradient related to mitigating climate change (and its adverse events). It explores planning strategies for more sustainable and resilient regions and governance at the interurban scale. Understanding the complex interaction between urban and rural, at the local and regional scales, is necessary to identify regional design opportunities and sustainably transform urbanized, newly urbanized, and future urbanized areas in cities in Latin America.

The study employs qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analysis methods within a Geographic Information System (QGIS) environment for assessing urban population growth, land consumption, and urban expansion trends. The research hypothesizes that achieving regional resilience and sustainability in the Ribeirão Preto metropolitan region requires strategic-specific planning that regulates and governs the interurban territory. The methodology aims to develop spatial indicators to be used as a tool for informed planning decisions and compare scenarios to explore possibilities for sustainable development.