Uploaded on 2017-08-03 by Ana Paula Prado

In this picture I took in mid June, 2017, we can see a street at the city of Embu das Artes , situated in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, the biggest city of Latin America – bigger then Mexico City. This is a portrait of an urbanized area of Embu, densely populated as we can see by the houses but even more by the amount of trash laying by them. As pictured, the houses are built next to a natural, previously preserved green area, where we see some trees in a lower level, where there is still an open air river flowing. We notice that the infrastructure we generally see in urban settlements are not present in this place: there is no paving, illumination, sidewalks nor any equipment. By this, we can presume that the sanitary waste is being thrown in the fresh water and the surface where the natural floods would happen in being occupied, devastated by trash and that the waters flow into the houses in the rain season, every year. The basic hygienic conditions are not present in this picture. The latin term “urbs” refers to every human very populated and concentrated settlement. In the origin, the bare situation of having security and business in the same place, as good as an infrastructure for an easier daily live when compared to living in the fields, was enough to attract new inhabitants to cities. Later, the elaboration of urban life, was perceived as an experience which goes beyond living necessities and getting means of survival - the possibility of the contact with arts, diversity, products and education leaded to the notion of urbanity (*), which is more related to the refinement and courtesy in the living manners engendered by the daily interaction in urban agglomerations. Urbanization is not a synonym of sanitation. The mais point in cities is to flow in it, use, be inserted in the group or in some of the groups that form the city, enjoying part of it’s goods and benefits. The notion that living in the city is far better than in the fields is a must. The knowledge we can take from this picture is that these people are attached to this place, being treated as it is. They are almost motionless, because they do not participate of the urbanity’s benefits in it’s deep meaning. Milton Santos, the Brazilian father of the so called New Geography, said that those are slow people, invisible and dark – because they are not in the lights of the cities –, and have to be seen and taken into consideration. They will not be seen in the transportation statistics, nor in the educational or consumption ones. They will be seen where absence is: in the lines for housing, school, food, transport and other very basic needs for living. We have to prepare the city for them, at the same time that we prepare them for the city. Today, the sight towards city became much more focused on production then in reproduction - in a sense of liveable and sustainable place, good for living and integrated. If it continues to be so, this people will not succeed entering in the wheel yet and the life quality of all the environment will keep on decaying. (*) https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/urbanity Urbanity mass noun •1. Courteousness and refinement of manner. ‘that polished urbanity of his’ Synonyms •2 Urban life. ‘a picture of banal urbanity’ Origin Mid 16th century: from French urbanité or Latin urbanitas, from urbanus ‘belonging to the city’ (see urban).