Nexus of exclusion and challenges for sustainability and health in an urban periphery in Brazil

Author(s)

Giatti, Leandro Luiz ^[1] ; Urbinatti, Alberto Matenhauer ^[1] ; de Carvalho, Carolina Monteiro ^[1] ; Bedran-Martins, Ana Maria ^[1] ; de Oliveira Santos, Izabela Penha ^[2] ; Honda, Simone Omori ^[1] ; Fracalanza, Ana Paula ^[2] ; Jacobi, Pedro Roberto ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Saude Publ, Av Dr Arnaldo 715, BR-01246904 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Energia & Ambiente, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Cadernos de Saúde Pública; v. 35, n. 7 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The urban nexus approach involves the investigation and elucidation of integrated solutions through the recognition of tradeoffs between water, energy, and food, namely resources whose shortage leads to inequalities in health. The article’s central hypothesis is that the context of shortage corroborates social practices that can be synergic or contradictory in relation to the challenges of sustainability and social rights. The objective is to investigate synergies and contradictions based on social practices in the urban nexus in the neighborhood of Novo Recreio in the city of Guarulhos, Greater Metropolitan São Paulo, Brazil. The methodology consists of a qualitative ethnographic study drawing on practice theory as the reference, with direct field observations and narratives. The results featured social practices associated with systematic lack of water, precarious public lighting and transportation, and difficult access to fresh and healthy foods. The study of social practices between synergies and contradictions allowed verifying that this spontaneous process of search for solutions to local problems reveals the need to incorporate local practices and knowledge into public policies and global demands. We define nexus of exclusion as the peripheral condition of impossibility of conscious options that allow jointly orienting the reduction of shortage and iniquities through alternatives for sustainability. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/17874-1 - Resilience and vulnerability at the urban nexus of food, water, energy and the environment (ResNexus)
• Grantee: Ana Maria Barbieri Bedran Martins
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 15/21311-0 - Participatory Geographic Information System (GIS) for social and environmental governance
• Grantee: Carolina Monteiro de Carvalho
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 16/25375-5 - Resilience and sustainability nexus in metropolitan contexts: intersectoral synergies from public policies
• Grantee: Alberto Matenhauer Urbinatti
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 15/50132-6 - Resilience and vulnerability at the urban nexus of food, water, energy and the environment (ResNexus)
• Grantee: Leandro Luiz Giatti
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants