Analysis of socio-environmental vulnerability in Cubatão, SP, Brazil, through the integration of socio-demographic and environmental data at the intra-urban scale

Abstract

The paper “Population, poverty and pollution in Cubatão, São Paulo” (1993), by Dr. Daniel Hogan, was published in the first book written by the Working Group on Population and Environment, of the Brazilian Association of Population Studies (ABEP). Twenty years have gone by since the book and paper were published, and this text is now presented as an updated analysis of the coastal municipality of Cubatão, in the State of São Paulo. It uses results from the Brazilian 2010 Census and is based on concepts and methodologies currently present in the debate on Population, Space and Environment, which are tributaries of Dr. Hogan’s contributions. The major objective of the paper is to empirically operationalize the concept of socio-environmental vulnerability by constructing social and environmental indicators. In the process, socioeconomic and demographic data from the IBGE 2010 Census is used, as well as data on areas of environmental risk. GIS and spatial analysis methods are used to analyze situations of socioenvironmental vulnerability on an intra-urban scale in the municipality of Cubatão. The results show the existence of intense concentration and spatial overlapping of situations of susceptibility, poverty and exposure to environmental risk in certain areas of the municipality. With reference to Daniel Hogan’s seminal article, this paper aims to contribute to the development of methodologies for integrating sociodemographic and environmental data in analyses of situations of socio-environmental vulnerability at the intra-urban scale. This approach should be an important part of the research agenda of the Working Group on Population, Space and Environment, of the Brazilian Association of Population Studies (Abep).