Apropriações dos espaços livres públicos do Centro de Vitória (ES) diante da pandemia de COVID-19: transformações, tensões e permanências

Abstract

The uprise of the COVID-19 pandemic has driven several transformations in social relations materialized in urban spaces, intensely impacting everyday life in cities and public spaces. This research analyses the problem of the appropriation of public spaces in Centro, a neighborhood located in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, in the selected time period of march 2020 to june 2022. It starts with the debate about the constitution of the public sphere in the contemporary age, to then investigate social tensioning, displacements and permanencies caused by the consolidation of the pandemic. The objective is to analyze the transformations in the forms of appropriation of public spaces in Centro de Vitória among this scenario, amidst the reinvention of everyday life caused by social distancing and COVID-19 preventive measures. In order to achieve this purpose, methodologically, it was developed a bibliographical research; a documental research based on the regional laws and regulation applied in Vitória regarding the public epidemiological management; and survey on news and articles concerning the public spaces of Centro de Vitória in the pandemic. The achieved results revealed gradual transformations related to the use of these spaces and to their social-spatial dynamics, from a reduction in the concentration of people in the neighborhood, to a progressive return of activities and uses of public spaces, to the point of aspiration towards the appropriation of public spaces, at the end of the period. Evidence demonstrates that the forms of appropriation of these spaces did not completely withdraw, but rather gradually transformed throughout the period. However, it is observed that the conflicts regarding the appropriation operated in these areas were amplified, propelled by the characteristic alterity of the neighborhood, occasion in which the epidemiological context justified the delegitimation of certain uses, especially the ones related to popular culture. Moreover, it was identified that the public management regarding the pandemic was contradictory in the epidemiological aspect, and it prioritized, in several instances, the fulfillment of private interests over effective viral control and democratic access to public spaces. In conclusion, it is argued that the public spaces of Centro de Vitória preserve their relevance as places of aspiration for appropriation, but also as places that materialize conflicts and dissents.