Space-temporal dynamics of land use and occupation in the Municipality of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

The territorial planning in the Southeast Region of Brazil was marked by marked economic cycles of land use and occupation. To assess this dynamic, surveys of historical and natural data from Ribeirão Preto – SP. In this context, the method of space-temporal analysis was adopted, based on the mapping of land use and occupation, from the reconstitution of the map of the use of 1910, together with the mapping of satellite images and aerial photographs by the method of oriented classification the object of 1973, 1985, 1995, 2005, 2015, 2019. The objective was to quantify the uses, trace trends, evaluate the effectiveness of public policies and highlight potential and environmental risks. The maps reveal the growth and expansion of agricultural frontiers, which indicates a change in the region's economic base, which has gone from being a major coffee producer to a sugarcane and agribusiness production hub. Such changes reflect the drop in the price of coffee and the federal programs to encourage the production of sugar and ethanol. Thus, the land ownership structure has not undergone major changes and continues to be dominated by large properties, but now managed by holding companies and anonymous society. Urbanization took place at an accelerated rate and was driven by the green revolution, mainly from 1960, resulting in the strong rural exodus in the region. This process resulted in a series of socio-environmental impacts, related to irregular occupations of areas for housing and increased urban and rural violence, in addition to the increased demand for natural resources, such as, for example, the increased demand for water and consequently of the waters of the Guarani Aquifer System, which resulted in the lowering of the water table and caused restrictions on its use. In addition, the region's native vegetation has been almost completely deforested and the soils show signs of accelerated erosion locally, which tends to have a deleterious impact on surface water resources, which are already suffering from municipal and industrial effluent discharge. In this context, the Ribeirão Preto region is a global agricultural economic hub, which depends on its natural potential. Therefore, the sustainable planning of territorial use and occupation should have as a priority to protect and preserve these natural resources, given the historical dependence of the municipality on it.