Agents producing urban spaces: the case of the city of Novo Hamburgo – Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

All cities are full of contradictions. Novo Hamburgo, for example, constitutes a mid-sized city in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre (RMPA), in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This city arose from German colonization in the beginning of the 19th century, went through a phase of industrial expansion in the 20th century, and faced an economic slowdown with national and international competition by the end of that same century. All those processes revealed the contradictions among the agents producing urban spaces that struggle for their hegemony. In this context, this research tries to identify and debate the actions of the main agents producing the urban space in Novo Hamburgo, as well as describe their main features. To do so, this research was developed using bibliographical data survey, official documents, fieldwork, and data consolidation in clerk work. This work showed contradictions and interests among the different agents producing urban spaces, having the State as the main agent in the urban formation and expansion of the city.