HYDROGEOMORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN URBAN EXPANSION AREAS: A STUDY ABOUT SUBDIVISION IMPLEMENTED SINCE 2004 IN CHAPECÓ CITY, SANTA CATARINA STATE, BRAZIL

Abstract

The specialization of knowledge areasand studies focused on the urban have received attention in recent decades, mainly due to the relevance of the urban areas as a place of residence for most of the world's population. The influence of urbanization on the water cycle and the interactions with the relief demonstrate the need to know how urban occupation affects the hydrogeomorphological processes. According to classical literature, urban development can be divided into three distinct stages, each with equally distinct hydrogeomorphological responses. To verify this issue in the city of Chapecó, in the west of the state of Santa Catarina, 12 subdivisions were selected, which were observed in four moments (2006, 2012, 2018 and 2021), with the objective of identifying the hydrogeomorphological processes active in the different stages of occupation presented by Wolman (1967). From the analysis of satellite images and fieldwork, it was found that the three stages described in the literature do not always happen in sequence, as the urban space is built from the annexation of new areas that connect to others with different degrees of development. Another relevant aspect is that different contexts of the same location can manifest to different degrees at the same time, since the consolidation of the subdivision, although rapid in some cases, is not homogeneous.