João Pessoa’s old town: form, use and built heritage
Built heritage. Space Syntax. Old towns. João Pessoa.
The city of João Pessoa (Paraíba, Brazil) underwent urban transformations over the centuries that brought with them a number of consequences for its initial core, which is the study universe of this research. Its gradual loss of economic relevance to other parts of the city was accompanied by the emergence of some urban problems, usually seen in many downtown areas in large Brazilian cities such as degradation and mischaracterization of the built heritage, empty or underutilized buildings, residential emptying, feeling of insecurity, among others. This paper presents an analysis of this reality in Old Town João Pessoa, within the historic perimeter set by IPHAEP (Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute of the State of Paraíba). This thesis aimed the investigation of possible correlations among these three variables: observation of the city urban morphology, usage survey and conservation of the built heritage in the studied perimeter, thereby diagnosing the incompatibilities that generate the existing conditions - besides suggesting possible solutions. The morphological study was based on the descriptive theory known as Space Syntax, which seeks to observe analogies between urban form and its existing social relations, assuming the proposition that both can be mutually influenced.