A poluição como problema público: um século de desigualdades ambientais, sociais e urbanas na Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The uneven effects of the environmental crisis have garnered increasing attention in recent years, bringing concepts like environmental justice and environmental racism into broader discussions. However, urban research in Brazil using these frameworks remains limited, often overlooking the unique variables and dynamics of Brazilian cities. This dissertation seeks to examine the mechanisms behind environmental inequality, analyzing it as a key component of broader social inequalities and urban dynamics. The study focuses on sanitation disparities in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro between the 1930s and 2020, alongside the historical emergence of pollution in Guanabara Bay as a public issue. Drawing on archival research from newspapers and historical statistics, the dissertation traces how pollution was initially framed as a biodiversity issue, later became a public health concern, and ultimately evolved into a recurring topic in state politics through repeated yet unfulfilled cleanup promises. Crucially, the social inequalities embedded in this process have been largely overlooked. Through a longitudinal and spatial analysis of sanitation infrastructure, this research highlights how non-white populations, low-income communities, and residents of slums and urban peripheries are disproportionately affected, and these disparities grow sharper as sanitation infrastructures become more desirable. Additionally, water pollution has had greater impacts on peripheral beaches, often compounded by other urban policies such as land reclamation, highway construction, and industrial zoning. These policies not only reshaped the physical landscape but also disrupted the social and cultural ties of communities that once frequented these beaches, many of which are now neglected or forgotten. The dissertation also provides a historical account of the efforts to implement pollution control infrastructures in Guanabara Bay, examining the political decisions and territorial inequalities that shaped these initiatives. Finally, it argues that the failure to address these inequalities and their connections to broader urban and social dynamics has limited the framing of pollution as a public issue. Instead, it remains a niche concern with restricted social and political traction, far removed from the profound impact it has on the lives of millions in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.