A expansão territorial do espaço urbano no distrito de Luzimangues, Porto Nacional, Tocantins

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the processes of appropriation and urban territorial expansion in the district of Luzimangues, Porto Nacional, Tocantins, a space that is coalescing with the capital city of Palmas. The study addresses the central question of how urban land appropriation and territorial expansion occurred through the implementation of land subdivisions, aiming to determine the origins and analyze the evolution of urban settlement patterns in Luzimangues, as well as to identify the key actors and forces shaping its urban morphology. The research methodology combined bibliographic review, documentary analysis with detailed systematization of primary and secondary sources, satellite image geoprocessing, and fieldwork. The results initially reveal a relatively spontaneous expansion that progressively transformed into a more planned process driven by Palmas' real estate dynamics and speculative interests. This shift materialized through the proliferation of land subdivisions targeting lower- income populations, who typically engaged in self-construction of housing after plot acquisition, resulting in a discontinuous urban fabric profoundly marked by socio-spatial fragmentation. The analysis demonstrates that this dispersed and fragmented urban morphology results from the coordinated actions of public authorities and private stakeholders. The public sector, through permissive legislation—particularly the establishment of Urban Macrozone 2 corresponding to Luzimangues' urban area, along with modifications to urban boundaries— created the institutional conditions for incorporating rural land plots. Simultaneously, real estate sector agents, predominantly based in Palmas, acted as the primary shapers in transforming rural spaces into urban areas, operating through strategies of spatial selectivity and anticipation within a framework of planned speculation. Therefore, the urban territorial expansion of Luzimangues is inseparable from the spatial processes occurring in Palmas, resulting in a dispersed and fragmented urban configuration that materializes a logic of real estate capital accumulation prioritizing land value preservation over socio-spatial integration and adequate provision of urban infrastructure.