The renewal process of central areas in the contemporary city: The case of the ‘Praça do Congresso' architectural and landscape complex in Criciúma

The unplanned urban expansion in Brazil and the consolidation of corporate city have encouraged, with the connivance of the neoliberal State, the propagation of occupation models increasingly tied to immediate real estate interests. The lack of social character urban planning is perceived mainly in medium and large cities, where an aggressive renovation process of the central areas is registered, even altering the landscape of historic centers irreversibly. This is the case of Criciúma, Santa Catarina state, a municipality developed under the economic influences of coal mining and, subsequently, of other industrial activities. The highlight is the architectural and landscape complex of the ‘Praça do Congresso’, the object of study of this article, formed since the early decades of the 20^th century with houses in various styles, from cottages with influences from European Romanticism, to copies of modern domestic architecture. Together with the square, they configure a reference space in quality of life, important to the preservation of memory and identity ties. The most recent changes are part of a national context of impoverishment of urbanization, and they demonstrate that the subservience of public policies to immediate economic interests tend to mischaracterize, in the near future, important part of the diversity of Brazilian historical complexes.

Estate capital; Historic landscapes; Public policies; Urban centrality; Criciúma