Right to the city and social participation: comparative analysis of fact reports filed in the public Prosecutor’s Offices of Juazeiro do Norte and Sobral, Ceará

Abstract

This article emerges to examine the Right to the City from an inland perspective, specifically focusing on the municipalities of Juazeiro do Norte and Sobral, respectively the first and second largest cities in the interior of the state of Ceará, in Northeast Brazil; and to relate it to social participation and the role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office as a guarantor of rights. Thus, the objective is to quantify the fact reports concerning issues related to the right to sustainable cities, in light of the City Statute, registered in the Public Prosecutor’s Offices of the judicial districts of Juazeiro do Norte and Sobral during the period from 2015 to 2023. Additionally, the study aims to analyze the subjects of these fact reports and their outcomes. The research developed herein is classified as having a qualitative approach, exploratory in nature, employing a comparative method and mixed procedures including literature review and document analysis. It was found that during the analyzed period, 75 and 180 fact reports were registered in Sobral and Juazeiro do Norte, respectively, related to the right to sustainable cities. It was observed that urban issues are recurrent in the municipalities under study. Juazeiro do Norte, due to the number of fact reports and the frequent and repeated irregularities reported, presents more significant problems compared to Sobral. In general, the fact reports were either archived or led to the initiation of civil inquiries. Furthermore, in both municipalities, the Public Prosecutor’s Office fulfills its role as both overseer and partner of society, through regulatory or dialogical activities.