Uma cidade mais criativa no contexto dos vazios urbanos de Novo Hamburgo que chegaram com o trem

Abstract

In the urban context of the city of Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, several vacant spaces emerged as a result of the implementation of an elevated railway track in 2014. Possibly due to its construction in a densely built-up area, spaces that were once functional to the city became useless. The residents did not create ties to this area, nor did they effectively occupy the area under the tracks. Our aim in this thesis is thus to seek alternatives to reintegrate such areas to the city and to the everyday life of its residents. Our thesis begins with a review of the concepts employed to grasp our object of study, including vacant spaces, creative cities, public space, urban mobility, right to the city, place/non place. After that, we reviewed urban interventions in other cities that could inspire an intervention in Novo Hamburgo. Following that, we carried out fieldwork that consisted in a questionnaire with the aim of identifying the residents’ perceptions on the use of space. After compiling all this information, we propose a project for the central area of the city, more precisely the area surrounding the city’s main train station. The guiding principle of this project is the idea of creative cities, which we believe frame the context of the urban transformations we are seeking. The result of our work is thus a proposal for intervention, open to future adjustments and to an extension to the rest of the rail track.