Parque Rio Negro: a reorganização do espaço urbano na orla do bairro de São Raimundo, aliando o lazer, sociabilidade e o turismo

Abstract

Over the last decades, the city of Manaus has undergone different stages of urbanization, a process that provoked contrasts in the urban space of the city of Manaus. The neighborhood of São Raimundo, located in the West Zone of Manaus, is a demonstration of these contradictions in the city of Manaus, represented in occupations in unhealthy places, such as the surroundings of the streams of the São Raimundo basin and the Rio Negro. Considering the absence of urban planning for this area, in 2015 the Rio Negro Park was inaugurated, a work of revitalization and requalification on the edge of the São Raimundo neighborhood, establishing a veritable "gateway to the river" for the population of Manaus, and tourists in general. In this sense, the objective of the present research is to critically analyze the factors that led the public power to reorganize the area of the Rio Negro border in the previously abandoned and deteriorated São Raimundo neighborhood in a space with a good quality of infrastructure and valuing the surroundings of the Rio Negro Park. In the same way, to verify if the Rio Negro Park meets the interests of the regulars and merchants, based on the survey of the public policies focused on leisure and sports, in addition to considering the aspects that value space around the Rio Negro Park. To answer the research objectives, the dialectical critical historical method was used, as well as procedures such as bibliographical and documentary surveys, fieldwork, application of questionnaires and tabulation of data for evaluation, and elaboration of the course completion work. The results obtained in the work demonstrated that the purpose of the public power in reorganizing the space of the border of the Rio Negro Park was to provide a space of leisure in the urban environment, considering the necessity of these public spaces, given the lack of these spaces in the city, that exist, but are incipient comparing to the population contingent of Manaus. However, it was observed that the park needs a greater diversity of leisure activities and maintenance of the infrastructure, to attract more regulars and not only benefit the local residents with the availability of a leisure area, but also with a view to boost the economy of the place, favoring the increase of the sales volume of products of merchants of small commercial establishments in and around the park. This fact stems from the absence of public policies aimed at leisure and sports, which eventually distract the park's regulars.