CRESCIMENTO URBANO E RECURSOS HÍDRICOS: O CASO DE RIO CLARO (SP)

Abstract

The urban expansion is connected to an integrated series of historical and economic factors which are fundamental for justifying and explaining the development and growth of a town. Anyway, sooner or later, growth implies greater pressure on environment and natural resources, markedly the hydrological one. The town of Rio Claro, in São Paulo state -Brazil, is taken as case study, due to its features: a medium sized town; with a certain level of industrialization and peculiar environmental aspects such as its insertion in a water basin, shared it with others municipalities, and its environmental protected hinterland area. KEY-WORDS: urban expansion, environmental impact, hidric resources.