From landfill to housing

an analysis of the social representations of risk of residents of the Conjunto Heliópolis - SP

Abstract

The configuration of risk situations associated with human exposure to contaminated areas in cities is a problem inherent in the dynamics of urban space production that reproduce socio-environmental vulnerabilities and affect a greater extent socially marginalized group. This article discusses the case of the Conjunto habitacional Heliópolis, built on a landfill by the municipality of São Paulo in the late 1980s and intended for the low-income population. The objective is to identify and analyze the social representations of residents about the risk associated with the contamination of local soil, to investigate how residents understand and position themselves about the situation experienced. The methodology comprised a case study that used interviews with 30 residents and the analysis of documents on the risk coping measures adopted. Social representations of the residents express the multiple dynamics of social and environmental inequalities that structure local social relationships and coping mode adopted by the institutions responsible for managing the situation. These results show that the confrontation of risk in contaminated areas, especially in countries marked by social asymmetries needs to be revised, as is the case in Brazil, so that it is apprehended by the population and faced more effectively.

Keywords: Soil Pollutants. Social Perception. Socioeconomic Factors.