Water access policy and the right to the city: the case of the “Saneamento Para Todos” program in Águas-Lindas/PA

Abstract

This article addresses the debate on urban public policies in Amazonian cities, in light of the principles of the right to the city. It discusses the marks of urbanization and socio-spatial segregation. The objective is to analyze a water access policy implemented through the "Saneamento Para Todos" (“Sanitation for All”) Program in the Águas-Lindas neighborhood, a space located between the municipalities of Belém and Ananindeua, in the state of Pará. The research approach is qualitative-quantitative and based on the following methodological procedures: a) literature review; b) statistical data collection from official institutions; c) systematic landscape observation, including the use of field notes and photographic documentation; d) systematization of quantitative data and production of cartographic representations related to the neighborhood. Finally, it was observed that while the implementation of the "Saneamento Para Todos" (“Sanitation for All”) Program constitutes an important infrastructure intervention, the way it is being conducted also reinforcing the process of socio-spatial segregation, particularly by disregarding the residents' socioeconomic situation, their agency, and the effective popular participation in the various stages of the Program's implementation.