Barra da Tijuca Territory: from the carioca hinterland to gated communities (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Part of the research Territory and territoriality: from the “countryside in Rio de janeiro” to the closed condominiums of Barra da Tijuca, this article has as a scenario two condominiums in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro – Barra Sul and Pontões da Barra –, located side by side in the neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. Initially, the first population formations in the researched territory were rescued, in order to deepen the social meanings constructed, as well as to verify the emerging social and cultural characteristics, including the organizational dynamics of the subjects who live there. Hence the emphasis on the concept of space as intercessory and capable of being crossed by other meanings, which end up giving it different angles and meanings.THEmethodology is linked to qualitative and participatory research, focused on thematic questions about social everyday life in its cultural and identity developments. For this, a mapping of the potentialities of the studied places and of the users who live or transit there was made, through the analysis of interviews, as a way of incorporating the subjective dimension to the spatial territory, in an approximation of the lived and built territories. As a neighborhood designed to preserve public areas and maintain a standard distance between buildings, Barra da Tijuca returns to the promotion of a lifestyle that aims at well-being and quality of life in the integration of Man/Nature. Its geography, with a large plain surrounded by the sea, lakes and mountains, favored the construction of condominiums, shopping malls and large vehicle circulation routes; however, the greatest particularity of this area is its diversification character, uniting various social classes that live/travel/study/work there. By having its history documented, including the settlements and the geographical composition of the beginning of the 17th century, the area allows a research directed to the social and territorial composition.