Central areas in dispute: a look at the dynamics of space production in times of pandemic and its consequences

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the processes of production and re-signification of the central areas of Brazilian cities during a period of social isolation that required the reformulation, albeit temporary, of ways of socializing and consuming goods and services, as well as the creation of new strategies for urban planning and social control. During the New Coronavirus pandemic, between 2020 and 2022, urban centralities, which are usually dense and full of vitality, characterized by intense flows of people and vehicles and the convergence of interests, experienced an exceptional period. Emptied of some of their historic daily functions, Brazil's central areas, rediscovered by the real estate market as a privileged locus for the reproduction of capital since the 2010s, have received the attention of important space-transforming agents during the pandemic. The paper presents some of the transformations unleashed during this period in the traditional central area of the city of Recife, in its historic sites and surroundings, and ponders how these interventions can have repercussions on the transformation of the landscape, the social fabric and the dynamics of use of these areas.