171
Baeninger (2003) adds that, despite the current trend of population decentralization and new non-metropolitan urban territories in the country, the coastline urbanization does not seem to have affected the population density in the Coastal Zone.
In over 70% of the coastal cities, the urban population prevails over the countryside.
Data from 2010 indicate that 45.6% of the 395 coastal cities have urbanization rates
between 80 and 100%. The urbanization percentage in the rest of the cities is 27.2%
(Ibge 2010).
Thus, it is clear that Brazilian coastal area occupation has intensified in recent
decades, due to three priority vectors of development: urbanization, industrialization and tourism activities (Moraes 1999). In addition to these vectors, we also have
intraregional migration, productive restructuring and municipal emancipations with
the inclusion of new population groups, uses and activities of coastal cities. The
contextualization of these processes is essential to understanding the present dynamics of the Brazilian coastal tropical wetlands.
Coastal urbanization as illustrated in Fig. 5.12 is a national and international
phenomenon, linked to coastal valuing for historical, economic and, more recently,
cultural and environmental reasons.
The historical and economic background reinforces the concentrating character of
urbanization in Coastal Zone s. However, within a decade, the number of metropolitan
areas increased in the country from 9 to 28, and in the coastal area from 5 to 16. This
growth, although controversial in some cases, indicates a trend of metropolitan structures expansion that makes coastal areas even more complex, due to the anthropic
pressure on natural systems, and sanitation, housing and transportation needs, in addition to the basic public services human conglomerates require (Ibge 2010).
Fig. 5.12 Urbanization of the Barra da Tijuca – Rio de Janeiro – Brazil (Source: Google Earth
2016)
5 Land Use and Occupation of Coastal Tropical Wetlands: Whale Coast, Bahia, Brazil
Baeninger (2003) adds that, despite the current trend of population decentralization and new non-metropolitan urban territories in the country, the coastline urbanization does not seem to have affected the population density in the Coastal Zone.
In over 70% of the coastal cities, the urban population prevails over the countryside.
Data from 2010 indicate that 45.6% of the 395 coastal cities have urbanization rates
between 80 and 100%. The urbanization percentage in the rest of the cities is 27.2%
(Ibge 2010).
Thus, it is clear that Brazilian coastal area occupation has intensified in recent
decades, due to three priority vectors of development: urbanization, industrialization and tourism activities (Moraes 1999). In addition to these vectors, we also have
intraregional migration, productive restructuring and municipal emancipations with
the inclusion of new population groups, uses and activities of coastal cities. The
contextualization of these processes is essential to understanding the present dynamics of the Brazilian coastal tropical wetlands.
Coastal urbanization as illustrated in Fig. 5.12 is a national and international
phenomenon, linked to coastal valuing for historical, economic and, more recently,
cultural and environmental reasons.
The historical and economic background reinforces the concentrating character of
urbanization in Coastal Zone s. However, within a decade, the number of metropolitan
areas increased in the country from 9 to 28, and in the coastal area from 5 to 16. This
growth, although controversial in some cases, indicates a trend of metropolitan structures expansion that makes coastal areas even more complex, due to the anthropic
pressure on natural systems, and sanitation, housing and transportation needs, in addition to the basic public services human conglomerates require (Ibge 2010).
Fig. 5.12 Urbanization of the Barra da Tijuca – Rio de Janeiro – Brazil (Source: Google Earth
2016)
5 Land Use and Occupation of Coastal Tropical Wetlands: Whale Coast, Bahia, Brazil