Foundations of the cities in the metropolitan region of Campinas

Abstract

The research is part of a set of case studies that have investigated the process of formation and spatial configuration of some of the cities of Campinas Metropolitan Region and whose origin part of dismemberment of the primary territory of Campinas, as well as other municipalities in the region. The cities studied are Paulinia, Cosmópolis, Arthur Nogueira and Engenheiro Coelho, urban centers whose origin is related to the binomial coffee plantation/ railroad and that are structured in the form of a network linked to Campinas from the extension of Cia Carril Agrícola Funilense, founded in the late nineteenth century. The study of territorial dismemberment will be made from the tables elaborated by the Instituto Geográfico e Cartográfco do Estado de São Paulo (IGC) and the data of the documentary series Cidades@ IBGE. The analysis is also based on the set of iconographic and cartographic records of the cities of São Paulo produced by IGC and that are part of the collection of the Arquivo do Estado of São Paulo. The research aims to identify the initial formation of the urban areas in question through the analysis of the donation of land for chapels, structuring of colonial settlements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and parceling of lots. The method adopted is that of historical cartography that allows elaborate interpretive maps of the spatial configuration in urban centers in different historical moments. We intend to investigate the presence in the urban fabric of the cities in question remnants of the original urban formations capable of supporting actions to protect the memory and heritage as well as subsidize contemporary urban projects.