Landscape versus Urbanization

A contribution by Luiz Carvalho

In the four video conferences that preceded the 'rXa - Recife Exchange Amsterdam' exhibition in Amsterdam the contrasts and similarities in terms of planning practices in Recife and Amsterdam were already remarkable. So it was no surprise that during the seminar at the opening of the exhibition such comparisons would be more evident. Personally, apart from all that is well know about urban planning and architecture in The Netherlands, what surfaced as one of the main lessons that Recife and Brazilians can learn from the Dutch is their approach towards landscape.

Here in Brazil we tend to treasure and protect mainly the landscape that is still perceived as natural or at least with not much human interference. This seems not to be the case in The Netherlands.
During the seminar we had a sample of a major discussion about the project for the new IJmeer connection between Almere and Amsterdam. The main controversy in this case is related to the effect of the new infrastructure on the environment. From a Brazilian point of view, part of that discussion would be pointless: why so much concern about the environment in a region that has suffered successive interventions, such as dikes and landfills that made it hardly recognisable? That is one of the lessons I learned in that process, that all land that is still free from urbanization should be treasured and object of careful study.

I think we can blame our vast territory and our “endless” natural resources for that lack of attention, but urban sprawl is already inflicting severe problems in our cities and the lesson from Holland, where land resources are scarce, is more than ever, a guideline for the future.

The ‘spiral-up’ movement in which our economy is now makes the coexistence of urban areas and landscape inevitable. What must be tackled is how to make the most of that interaction, how to balance urbanization and quality of life. 

 Afsluitdijk

Luiz Carvalho (1972) is an architect and urbanist graduated at Pernambuco Federal University in 1995. Since 2007 works as manager at NTOU (Urban Renewal Unity) for the State Government of Pernambuco. He was awarded with the 2º prize in a national competion for Recife´s Forum and 1º prize in the competion for the Tacaruna Cultural Center in Olinda. Luiz Carvalho is one of the key persons in the rXa project.