CIDADE E QUESTÃO SOCIAL NO CAPITALISMO: em cena, Fortaleza, a Miami do nordeste

Abstract

This article analyzes the genesis of the mercantile process in the cities, approaching the main urban transformations and their social subjects emphasizing the Brazilian urbanization aspects, specifically in the city of Fortaleza. Fortaleza was chosen as the researched city due to its ́ contradictions and transformations in the last two decades. The capital of the Ceará state has gone through different urban interventions, which contributed to alter its ́ historical image of being a poor, underdeveloped metropolis, to being perceived as a modern, structured city with leisure, culture and natural beauties, susceptible to be sold through local, national and international city marketing. Considering the official political speech modernizing the city would make it possible to decrease poverty; however, the Brazilian city of Fortaleza continues to present critical social indexes. This article also considers the historical construction of their citizen ́s city rights, analyzing the denial of their right to the city, showing that in the Brazilian society the citizens’ juridical equality is only theoretical because contradictorily, social inequality continues to be perceived. This article ends with a discussion over the (im) possibility of equality concretization in capitalism due to its ́ logic being the whole population equality denial.

Keywords

• capitalism
• city
• social subject
• right