Avaliação do nível de qualidade de vida urbana: um estudo exploratório a partir do fenômeno da expansão urbana e oferta de serviços e recursos urbanos no município do Natal/RN.

Abstract

This research is part of an intellectual effort to adapt a methodology for assessing the level of quality of urban life. The (un) sustainability in the city, caused by urbanization and urban sprawl, compromise the quality of urban life evidenced by unequal distribution and access to goods and services infrastructure. Thus, the study in question objectifies to evaluate the levels of urban life quality of Natal-RN, from the definition of indicators and indexes that made the services offer and urban resources possible, in view of the city sustainability. As methodological processes, the research is based in bibliographic and documental studies. The approach method was deductive, which came from the general analysis about urban expansion, sustainability and urban life quality, aiming to get to Natal-RN case, in particular. It’s about a study considered as being from exploratory and applied nature, and also of quantitative character. Theoretical discussions are based in concepts and in the urbanization analysis and urban expansion as conditional of the urban unsustainability that has impaired the life quality in the cities. The evaluation of the urban life quality of Natal happened by the definition of variables and indexes, subsidized by secondary data. These data were turned into indexes, which were organized in quality levels and classified as being: terrible, bad, average, good or great. After the results analysis, the district ranking was organized in relation to the urban life quality level, evidencing, with that, the urban life quality final index at Natal city. This made the services and urban resources measuring possible, in view of the city sustainability. It is concluded that in the areas where the recent urban expansion has happened at Natal, the worst urban life quality are found. The reached results also evidence a segregated, unfair and exclusionary city, whose urban life quality index has been considered regular.