The socionature of waters on urban landscape: Reflections from cases in Juiz de Fora (MG)

Abstract

During the process of urban expansion, helocrene, limnocrene and rheocrene water systems become hybrids between the natural and the social. The logic of spatial reproduction to meet urban needs leads to alterations in the structure and dynamics of waterscapes, which materialize in adaptations imposed by land use and cover patterns, governed by capital flows. The transformation of hydrological systems into water supply sources, the impermeabilization of surfaces, and the obliteration of water bodies alter hydrogeographical forms and processes through socio-natural interrelations. Medium-sized cities, such as Juiz de Fora (MG), exhibit specificities related to the transformations of urban and periurban hydrological systems, mediated by distinct logics of land appropriation and spatial reproduction. In this perspective, the aim is to identify the transformations of hydrological systems in the periurban area of Juiz de Fora, based on the analysis of orbital data, including satellite images and field records, interpreted through the lenses of Hydrogeography in dialogue with Political Ecology. The results show that helocrene and limnocrene environments have been practically hidden from the urban landscape, while rheocrene environments are severely altered. In periurban areas, the multiplicity of actors is reflected in varying degrees of artificialization of water systems, with greater variability in water uses and a higher diversity of waterscapes.