O problema fundiário no contexto urbano de Porto Alegre: uma contribuição para o debate sobre a reforma urbana

This article intends to contribute to the discussion about the urban reform required by the new brazilian Constitution of 1988. It studies some essential axspects of the problem of urban land, like the ownership, size and location of vacant urban areas. The causes of urban problems in Brazil, as well as the peculiar social conditions of Porto Alegre appear as the background for the analysis. The main conclusion is that the size of vacant areas is relatively large in zones which present favourable conditions for housing purposes, contributing to increase the price of land and, as a result, to make more difficult the access to residential ownership for the majority of population. Besides that, the analysis of the data about the property of urban land showed that construction companies are the proprietors of urban áreas, being, as a result, important agents in the definition of the uses and forms of occupation of urban land.This article intends to contribute to the discussion about the urban reform required by the new brazilian Constitution of 1988. It studies some essential axspects of the problem of urban land, like the ownership, size and location of vacant urban areas. The causes of urban problems in Brazil, as well as the peculiar social conditions of Porto Alegre appear as the background for the analysis. The main conclusion is that the size of vacant areas is relatively large in zones which present favourable conditions for housing purposes, contributing to increase the price of land and, as a result, to make more difficult the access to residential ownership for the majority of population. Besides that, the analysis of the data about the property of urban land showed that construction companies are the proprietors of urban áreas, being, as a result, important agents in the definition of the uses and forms of occupation of urban land