The Information Paradigm and the Bairro of Recife: an urbanistic

The Information Paradigm and the Bairro of Recife: an urbanistic reflection on the Porto Digital [Digital
Port] Development Plan.
Profª Msc. Manuella Marianna Andrade (FAU/UFAL)
In the year 2000 the Porto Digital was launched as the result of cooperation between Governments,
Universities, and Companies from the information technology and communication sectors. The creation of
the Porto Digital emerged not only from the traditions of the State of Pernambuco, but also from
substantial data which identified the growing emergence of companies linked to the area of Information
Technology (IT), above all micro and small-scale companies (PORTO DIGITAL/CONDEPE, 2000). The
explanation which most clearly presents the business orientation of the Porto Digital is from Ivo Theis
(2002, p.84) when, according to data from ANPROTEC1, he conceptualises technological parks as “areas
generally linked to some centre of teaching and research, with the infrastructure necessary for the
installation of companies based on technological research and development”. Technological parks are more
commonly associated with small companies which direct their resources to technological research and
development. According to Theis (2002, p.84):
Business incubators are encouraging and flexible environments which favour the
appearance and growth of new businesses. In addition to advice on the technical and commercial
management of the business, an incubator offers shared infrastructure and services, such as:
physical space, meeting rooms, telephone, fax, internet access, computing support, etc. Business
incubators, managed by government bodies, universities, business associations, and foundations,
are catalysts for the process of developing and consolidating innovative businesses in competitive
markets. By making intense use of professional and practical knowledge, the principal objectives
of a business incubator are concentrated in the production of innovative businesses and in the
creation of an entrepreneurial culture.
The Porto Digital is a technological park which intends to stimulate the emergence of strategic
economic spaces, dimensioned for a regional economy, which are capable of inserting that economy in the
globalised capitalist economy. For this the Porto Digital presents itself as “a revolutionary project [...] which
involves the creation of a technological city, by starting with the urban renewal of the original site of the
city of Recife: the Bairro of Recife” (PORTO DIGITAL, 2001, p.01).
One of the products of this ‘revolutionary project’ is the Porto Digital Development Plan, presented
in November 2001. The objective of the plan was to propose and discuss urban interventions which could
create a favourable environment for the capture of investments and for obtaining the support of public and
private agents interested in the Porto Digital. The defining concept of the “urban dimension of the newly
planned city” is that of integrated urban renovation, which aims to institute real partnerships in its business
platform, and emphasise the potential of transforming the Bairro of Recife into a “world class
environment” (PORTO DIGITAL, 2001).
The proposal of the present work is to present some thoughts, from an urbanistic perspective, on
this new social2 actor, through an analysis of its Development Plan. This approach was driven by the
observation that, in thirty years of preoccupation with the preservation of the Bairro of Recife, three plans
have been prepared – the Plan for the Preservation of Historic Sites (1979), covered various historic sites of
the metropolitan region of Recife, establishing general rules for preservation; the Plan for the
Rehabilitation of the Centre of Recife (1986) covered the whole of the historic central area of Recife, and
focused on meeting social needs; and the Plan for the Revitalisation of the Bairro of Recife (1992) which
incorporated an entrepreneurial perspective based on the economic potential of the historic and artistic
1
The Brazilian national experience, in relation to the development of technology, began around 1980 with the incentive of CNPq – the National
Council for the Development of Science and Technology – to stimulate greater contact between academia and industry with the Program of
Technological Innovation. This program resulted in the creation of 13 study nuclei, known as Technological Innovation Nuclei, in both universities
and other institutions. Following this the Program for the Creation of Technological Parks was created. In 1987 this resulted in the identification of
16 undertakings focused on this concept, and at the end of the same year led to the creation of the National Association of Entities which Promote
Advanced Technological Businesses – ANPROTEC (THEIS, 2002).
2
State Decree No. 23.212 of 20/04/2001 named the management of the Porto Digital as a non-profit making Private Law Civil Society, qualified as a
social organisation, which today is known as the Third Sector. The businesses of the Third Sector are a major economic force. Maintained by public
funds or by the generation of their own income, they have an elevated potential for the generation of jobs, ranging from voluntary work to
professional employment, and mix elements of both mutual support and competitiveness.
patrimony of the bairro – with this last plan being transformed, in 1997, into Law No. 16.290, with the title
of Specific Plan for the Revitalisation of Special Zone 09 for the Preservation of the Historico-Cultural
Patrimony of the Bairro of Recife.
Four years after that law was promulgated yet another plan for the Bairro of Recife emerged,
prepared this time by an actor with an economic profile. In principal it is possible to affirm that there is an
explicit relationship between the Plan for the Revitalisation of the Bairro of Recife (1992) and the Porto
Digital Development Plan (2001). However, the ‘revolutionary’ character of the latter displays a certain
ambition, which is natural when talking of business, as well as a certain pretension even though it proposes
to be “open and subject to the adjustments inherent in the process of discussing a Plan” (PORTO DIGITAL,
2001, p.01). As such, reflecting on this plan require us to think why planning actions are always “discarded”
and, principally, what is the power that a development plan drawn up by a socio-economic actor has in the
transformation of the urban space?
General overview of the process of preservation
Before we turn to the reflection itself, it is worth making a succinct presentation of the above
government plans for the Bairro of Recife, because between them there are common components which
remain present even though the individual plans follow different directions.
Plan for the Preservation of Historic Sites – PPHS (1979)
In the 1970s Brazilian preservation policy began to reflect on the understanding of the city from the
perspective of its urban history. This represented an amplification of the traditional interpretation of
national heritage as works of art, passing from considering not only the stylistic value to considering also
the documental and historical value. As a result of this the selective process now also considers the sociohistorical value (MOTA, 2000, p.265), which makes possible other forms of valuing cultural artefacts.
It is within this change of spirit with respect to the national cultural heritage that the creation of the
metropolitan policy responsible for the formulation of the first Plan for the Preservation of Historic Sites
(PPHS)3 took place in Recife in 1979. In this plan preservation was the instrumental base for the promotion
of socioeconomic development.
Based on basic principles of preservation brought from international meetings4, the PPHS (1979)
formulated its own understanding of the term Historic Site, defining it as the whole environmental context,
characterised by its urban layout or by individual buildings, and representative of man in time and space. It
recognises the historic site not only as a cultural artefact, but also as an economic and urban good, taking
into consideration formal and urban, historic and socioeconomic aspects of the environments to be
preserved. It also understands preservation as an active instrument capable of revitalising areas, and
preserving the original appearance, while at the same time allowing the introduction new more dynamic
activities.
The Bairro of Recife was recognised as an historic site in Decree No. 11.692/80, which created the
Sector for Rigorous Preservation (SRP), which covered an area composed of monuments, houses, and their
surroundings from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries; and the Sector for Environmental Preservation, which
covered the transitional area between the SRP and the rest of the Bairro. Even with these efforts of the city
government in favour of the preservation of the Bairro of Recife, the urban decentralisation of economic
activities, a phenomenon from which cities throughout the country were suffering, provoked the failure of
the intention to form a financial centre in the area. With this the Bairro continued to provide only those
activities which met the needs of port services, thereby becoming a sort of “central periphery” (ZANCHETI,
MARINHO, LACERDA, 1998).
3
The PPHS covered nine municipalities of the metropolitan region of Recife and provided only a superficial solution for some of the problems of
preservation. None the less it advanced in terms of protection policy by instituting the preservation zones.
4
Centred on the principles of the Venice Charter (1964) which covers the understanding of the concepts of monuments and preservation; on the
Norms of Quito (1967) which sought to conciliate preservation with the transformations associated with rapid urban growth, delimiting for the first
time the effect of legislation on areas of preservation in zones of rigorous protection, zones of protection or respect, and zones for the protection of
the urban landscape; followed by the meeting in Brasilia (1970), the PPHS met an undelayable need for the State and Municipality to provide
support for Federal action in relation to the preservation of cultural heritage.
Figure 01: Map of Preservation Zones and Sectors in the Bairro of Recife, PPHS / Decree No. 11.692/80.
Source: RECIFE, 1980. Figure scanned by the author.
Plan for the Rehabilitation of the Centre of Recife – PRCR (1986)
The second plan involved in the process of preserving the Bairro of Recife coincided with the
political opening of the Country. In 1986, the mayor Jarbas Vasconcelos prepared an orientation document
which aimed to intervene in the process of degradation of the central area of the city, called A Strategy to
Revitalise the Centre of Recife5. The document reflects a posture of political support for social causes, with
special commitment to low income groups for having supported the mayor in the elections (ZANCHETI,
1993, p.103).
The specific treatment of the Bairro of Recife in the document is in the creation of an agile
management office linked to the body responsible for urbanisation work in the city (URB-Recife). The
Technical Office of the Bairro prepared strategic proposals based on Italian experiences, especially those in
Bologna6. These proposals brought to the plan for the Bairro of Recife the importance of social aspects, and
the need for the permanence of the social classes which already occupied the area, as primordial factors for
its conservation. The enthusiasm for Bologna’s socially oriented conservation policy reinforced, in the
Bairro, a preoccupation with preserving the memory of its inhabitants and users, in addition to involving
them in the process of preparing proposals.
However, focusing the actions of the Plan on the less favoured social groups did not revert the
process of degradation in the Bairro. The social posture did not motivate the financial institutions needed
to promote the rehabilitation of the Bairro, failed to raise resources, and distanced those agents capable of
altering the stagnant situation of its urban functions (ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACREDA, 1998).
Plan for the Revitalisation of the Bairro of Recife – PRBR (1992)
The change in the state government, in 1991, led to a new economic policy which was strategically
designed to increment tourism. Incorporating an entrepreneurial vision, the new plan for the preservation
of the historic site of the Bairro of Recife introduced the concept of Urban Revitalisation, based on a type of
creative partnership between government and private agents. The aim was to encourage the creation of a
new economic base, which incorporated elements from both capitalist production and the cultural sphere
5
The strategic objectives and the prepared proposals cover the whole of the central area, which is considered historic and is made up of the bairros:
Recife, Santo Antonio, São José, Boa Vista and Santo Amaro. These objectives were structured round a preoccupation with creating a better urban
environment, by providing infrastructure, guaranteeing urban circulation, promoting relaxation and leisure, rehabilitating the buildings and
installing equipment for collective use. The action strategies can be divided into groups of short and medium term strategies, according to the
spaces in which they are to be applied, and into groups of normative actions which, supported by legal prerogatives for urban control, involve the
charging of taxes. The limited practicality of these proposals prevented their complete implementation.
6
Already in the 1970s Bologna was going through a moment of political reflection on the need to have a global vision of the problems of its historic
centre in order to recuperate it. The discussion started from a critical analysis which saw the nature of the development and territorial ordering of
the urban space as the principal cause of the destruction of the historic centre and its social marginalisation. This discussion made clear the
impossibility of carrying out an autonomous policy for the historic centre, because of the fact that aspects of the conservation and valuation of the
historic spaces were bound to natural phenomena of the social economy. The policy for the conservation of the historic centre of Bologna was
strongly characterised by a preoccupation with social duty, and acted politically in this sense because it was believed that the lower social classes
were the centre’s source of vitality (CERVALATTI, P.; SCANNAVINI, R., 1976).
which were relevant to urban spaces of historic and cultural importance. Normally these are central urban
areas, which have the potential to be turned into effective tourist attractions.
Requested by the government of the State of Pernambuco, the Plan for the Revitalisation of the
Bairro of Recife7 aimed to transform the Bairro into an attractive centre for foreign and national tourists.
The economic reality, which had already been identified as one of the great problems of the Bairro in the
Plan for Rehabilitation (1986), was taken up again, as an urban question, by the Plan for Revitalisation
(1992). The recognition of this economic reality and of the importance of the urban activities of the Bairro
of Recife permitted the team which prepared the Plan to reaffirm the economic potential of the area, and
the associated potential of the city. The idea was to transform the Bairro into a regional Pole of excellence8
and, consequently, stimulate the process of urban revaluation through the revitalisation of the Bairro:
The characteristics of the Bairro of Recife as a geographically central area, with a
building stock of historico-cultural importance, many underused buildings, and above all a quality
urban environment, could, if recuperated, be factors capable of inducing an alteration in the
actual tendencies in the occupation of its space (ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACERDA, 1998, p.21).
The PRBR (1992) had, as its basic premise, changes in the uses, and density of occupation, of the
land of the Bairro of Recife, with a view to obtaining greater integration of the local economy with the
urban economy of Recife, through the preservation and revaluation of the natural and constructed heritage
of the Bairro.
With a commitment to introduce novelties, but maintaining a balanced relationship between the
present and the past, the plan envisaged the renewal of the economy, through the possibility of attracting
new activities of regional, national or international scope, with activities related to advanced technological
processes being one of the priorities.
The four principal objectives reflected this intention to associate the urban-historic context of the
area with the “new planning”, with a view to: (i) conserving the urban patrimony; (ii) transforming the
economy by creating a concentration of the activities of retailing9, tourism10, culture and leisure11 and
modern services centres12; (iii) turning the Bairro into a space of leisure and diversion and promoting the
concentration of people in the area; and (iv) with this turning the centre into a tourist attraction
(ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACERDA, 1998).
Considering the current legislation and its need for reform, the plan considered the Bairro of Recife
as being composed of three Urban Intervention Sectors, based on the distribution of activities, on the
urban and environmental infrastructure and on the pattern of land use.
7
The Plan for the Revitalisation of the Bairro of Recife was prepared by the companies: URBANA: planejamento e projetos, Borsói Arquitetos
Associados e Multi Programação Visual.
8
The idea of creating a regional pole of excellence was conceived, initially, from an analysis of the economic potential of the city of Recife as a
strong metropolitan representative of the activities of commerce and sub-contracted services, highlighting especially the specialised services
strongly represented in the city in technical areas such as: health, engineering, information technology, and culture. As such the pole of excellence
highlighted technical and professional specialisation, focusing on modern personal and business services, based on new technologies and
microelectronics. The ability of the city of Recife to supply qualified people, research centres and universities directed towards the modern tendency
of service provision, associated with the socio-cultural character of its artistic, architectural, end environmental expressions, resulted in the
identification of the Bairro of Recife as a privileged ‘locus’ for the location of the central, modern and dynamic activities of the city. The intention
was to redefine the land use of the bairro on a basis of modern business and personal services, tourism, culture and leisure (ZANCHETI, MARINHO,
LACERDA, 1998).
9
Retailing contributed by revitalising the space as a major centre for shopping, making the “space of the urban spectacle” the “space of
consumption”. Retailing activities: shops of hand made goods, supermarkets, convenience shops, boutiques, food markets, restaurants, bookshops,
second-hand bookshops, jewellery shops, pharmacies, stationers, art galleries, antique shops, gift shops, etc.
10
In association with retailing, the Bairro of Recife, as a space of national level historical value, can be linked to the question of providing support to
the tourist as a source of economic circulation of financial capital. Tourist activities: hotels, guest houses, marine passenger terminal, airline and
transport companies, tourist information centres, post offices, travel and exchange agencies, night-time bars, show bars, and nightclubs, etc.
11
The activities of culture and leisure linked to the perspective of obtaining economic results from culture, both material and immaterial, which is
amply represented in Recife as a regional centre of cultural production. Cultural activities: in terms of production – production companies, studios,
ateliers, art schools, publishers, cultural representatives, etc. In terms of consumption – cinemas, theatres, exhibition spaces, libraries, event
spaces, show houses, aquariums, planetariums.
12
Modern services envisages the incorporation of science and technology based activities in the Bairro, as a result of a special characteristic of the
city of Recife as a nationally recognised technological pole. Modern service activities: headquarters of major companies and corporations,
headquarters of foundations, class associations, banks, financial companies, brokers, centres of information and communication, offices of selfemployed professionals, etc. In order to provide a cycle of everyday activities, and also as a fundamental strategic component, the plan foresees the
provision of housing and its support activities: schools, crèches, bakeries, grocers, supermarkets, pharmacies, laundries, betting shops, first aid
posts, emergency clinics, etc.
Figure 02: Sectors for Urban Intervention – Revitalisation Plan 1992.
Source: ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACERDA (orgs.), 1998. Figure scanned by the author.
The Renewal Sector [orange] “is the area which offers the possibility of the transformation of its
urban environment, by the creation of a new situation, whether with respect to use, or with respect to the
pattern of occupation and construction” (ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACREDA, 1998, p.30). This sector is at the
“core of the new occupation proposal”, because it foresees the greatest changes, such as an increase in the
maximum number of floors permitted, and in the occupation of the strip of land alongside the River
Capibaribe. The plan foresees urban uses such as retailing, traditional services, housing, wholesaling and
industry, which are already characteristic of the area. The structural projects which fall in this sector are the
Pilar Multiuse Centre13; Apartments in old warehouses14; and the Memory Trail15.
The Consolidation Sector [white] “is an area with stable use – institutional – and has a regular
pattern of occupation of lots and buildings” (ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACREDA, 1998, p.30). A projected
reduction in port activities would permit the use of these areas in strategic urban projects for the
reintegration of the urban fabric.
And the Revitalisation Sector [red] “is the area which offers conditions for intervention to improve
the type of use and the environmental quality of the area, by using the existing urban structure and
buildings, and by highlighting the qualities of the urban landscape” (ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACERDA, 1998,
p.30). The definition of land use follows the activities already, occasionally, present in the area, with
emphasis on modern services, retailing and housing. Within the group modern services, the plan highlights
production, cultural, leisure and touristic services as the most appropriate for the urban area. Within this
area we find the following structural projects: the Centre for cultural activities, leisure and business of the
Bom Jesus Pole16; the Marine Passenger Terminal17; the Alfândega Cultural and Shopping Centre18;
Aquarium19; and “Water Front”20.
13
Consists of the use of a significant area for the creation of a centre of support for Port activities such as: commerce, services and housing, with a
view to the physical and social recuperation of a degraded area.
14
The transformation of part of the stock of obsolete warehouses into small and midsize apartments, associated with food-related activities, and
complementing the renovation of Pilar.
15
Follows the old route which linked Olinda to the Bairro, highlighting the physical and visual aspect of the urban fabric and its marks. The trail
passes through the region of revitalisation demarcated by the plan.
16
An urban space with a collection of both daytime and night-time activities, which guarantee a permanent flux of people, creating a space for the
concentration of activities in Rua Bom Jesus associated with the renovation of the Praça do Arsenal.
17
Located in Warehouse 11 of the Port, it is connected with the entertainment quarter in the Bom Jesus Pole, and will provide for other activities
directly related to the activity of the terminal.
18
An events space which will provide a modern cultural leisure centre, attractive to residents and tourists.
19
With the intention of stimulating contemplative leisure, the plan foresees an aquarium with the aquatic fauna and flora of the region, in addition
to a library, an exposition room and a bar.
20
A permanent transformation of a number of the Port warehouses into an area of leisure and retailing, incorporating the sea view into the urban
landscape.
Figure 03: Spatial Organisation of Activities – Revitalisation Plan (1992)
Source: ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACERDA, 1998. Figure scanned by the author.
Figure 04: Structural Projects – Revitalisation Plan (1992)
Source: ZANCHETI, MARINHO, LACERDA, 1998. Figure scanned by the author.
Between the years 1995 and 1996, the Assessoria de Urbanização Popular [approximately: Social
Urbanisation Support Group] – ARRUAR – following the guidelines of the Master Plan for the City of Recife
and the Law for the Use and Occupation of the Land, and as requested by the mayor Jarbas Vasconcelos,
revised the PRBR (1992) to prepare detailed plans to implement the Plan, with a view to its transformation
into Law.
Emphasising the urban question, these detailed plans introduced changes in the composition of the
intervention sectors. The PRBR (1992) considered the Port area as a consolidation sector, while the
ARRUAR revision considered it as a sector for controlled intervention. There were similar changes in the
delimitation of the other sectors. The name of the revitalisation sector was also changed, to be known as
the sector for Controlled Intervention. The naming suggested for the revision of the PRBR (1992) was
maintained after the approval of Law No. 16.290/1997. However between the revision and the approval of
the law there were modifications to the geographical extents of the intervention sectors, with a reduction
in the area of the renovation sector and an increase in the controlled intervention sector.
Within this panorama of plans for the Bairro of Recife, the recycling of the posts of governor and
mayor between Roberto Magalhães (governor 1983-1986; mayor 1997-1999), Jarbas Vasconcelos (mayor
1986-1988; 1993-1996; governor 1999-2006), and Joaquim Rodrigues (mayor 1983-1985; 1989-1990;
governor 1991-1995), is notable. This is especially so when one realises that Jarbas Vasconcelos is the
political actor most involved in the actions related to the Bairro. He was responsible for the 1985 plan
which had a more social approach; for the revision of the 1992 plan which displayed a more urban
awareness, but which was sanctioned in the mandate of Roberto Magalhães; and was the governor who
instituted the Porto Digital in Decree No. 23.212/2001.
Even with the discussion of tourism and modern services removed from the revision of the PRBR
(1992) in favour of the urban question itself, whether with respect to the set of existing buildings or with
respect to the composition of its landscape, and the absence in Law No. 16.290/97 of uses destined to
technological activities, the political actions of Vasconcelos did not fail to recognise the Porto Digital as an
economic opportunity for the Bairro of Recife. Even though Law No. 16.290 defined a model of regulation
with urban preoccupations and proposals which did not tie itself to defined uses, but rather to parameters
of occupation appropriate to the times, Vasconcelos and the Porto Digital identified it as strategic
opportunity to lever the revival of the economy of the Bairro of Recife, by dynamising its activities, and
elevating it to be a space of reference in Information Technology. In addition this would be the first
example of urban revitalisation in Brazil, and possibly in the world, in which the principal focus would be on
the insertion of the regional digital economy in the globalised capitalist economy, and not necessarily on
the spectacularisation of the culture.
Figure 05: Map used in the Development Plan to demonstrate the current legislation and its requirements for the
Bairro of Recife.
Source: PORTO DIGITAL, 2001.
The Information Paradigm and the Porto Digital Development Plan
Implicitly or explicitly all the plans for the Bairro of Recife saw the economic factor as an essential
element. It is well known that in the PRBR (1992) modern technological services were already considered
among the possible activities which could be allies for the economic development of the area. The Porto
Digital, with the support of the current political powers, foresaw in the current reality and the reigning
legislation the possibility of the effective installation of its activities in the Bairro of Recife. To this end a
Porto Digital Development Plan - PDDP (2001) was prepared, because its implantation in the Bairro would
require the urban spaces to be adapted for the activities of the digital community. It was at this time that
the Porto Digital outgrew its limits as a “company” and presented itself as an “urban manager”, driving
force, and catalyst of the new technological city.
It can be seen that it is in fact necessary for the Porto Digital to attract partners and investors.
However, what is questionable is the appropriation of the Bairro of Recife for the delimitation of its “initial
territory”, to use a term from the PDDP (2001), just as it is questionable for it to define the kind of city
which should be produced, on the basis of the uses and mobility it needs to develop. It is as if the whole
Bairro has to “turn” around the Porto Digital! The Porto Digital, in the role of its Management Nucleus
becomes a real estate agent, which, using the PDDP as a base, and negotiates between the partners and
the owners of the buildings with respect to the renovation of those buildings for the installation of a new
digitally oriented activity.
As the PDDP (2001) seeks to make the urban reality of the Bairro more viable, it consequently seeks
its gradual requalification, starting from the principle of making the historic site adequate to the needs of
Information Technology, giving preference to (i) the use of empty or underused groups of buildings for the
installation of anchor equipment; (ii) an improvement in the quality of the urban space, leisure areas,
rapidity of access and circulation; (iii) a mix of uses which are attractive for users, businessmen and
workers; (iv) shared management alternatives for urban questions; and (v) the projection of scenarios for
Information Technology beyond the limits of the Bairro.
The proposal is presented in 3 stages. The vision of the Future and What city does the Porto Digital
need to be able to develop? consider the legal parameters which exist in Law No. 16.290/1997. The third
proposal, Porto Digital 2010-2015, is supported by the Strategic Metropolis project of FIDEM21 to
extrapolate the limits of “its city”, by using part of the area of the Port of Recife which is defined as a Sector
of Controlled Intervention in the law cited above. Associated with these proposals is Station Recife which
proposes the implantation of three interpretative circuits of the Bairro to “increment the development
strategy of the Porto Digital and add value to the strategy of regional development” (PORTO DIGITAL, 2001,
n. pag.). This proposal represents a more detailed evolution of the Cultural Trail proposed by the PRBR
(1992).
At this first moment of reflection we find we are faced with a conflict, a fruit of modernity, which is
very well put by Rogers (2001, p.22) when he says: “Opening oneself to changes always brings uncertainties
and risk. The power to transform and change the world [...] defines our condition of being modern. The
anxiousness which drives us is counterbalanced by the consciousness of our capacity to destroy. To be
modern, therefore, is to live this life of paradox” *translated from a portuguese translation]. At the present
time we are witnessing the exacerbation of modernity. If in modernity the paradigm was originally that of
the machine, of industry, today that has changed to that of the Internet, the digital environment.
Technological evolution is a fact, but the spirit which pervades the above quote is constant.
This new social actor, which proposes change at all spatial scales, has the power and is conscious of
the need to transform without destroying, but by innovating. For the observer this brings uncertainty,
because changes bring risks, and in the end every transformation requires some destruction. And it is in this
life of paradoxes that reflection allows us to contest the form in which the urban space is appropriated by
the PDDP and at the same time imagine what could, or can, bring more dynamism and a new urban
character to the revitalisation of the Bairro of Recife.
The vision of the Future (1st stage)
Within the perimeter of the first stage, right in the centre of the Bairro of Recife, the PDDP (2001)
presented the area as an opportunity for the conversion of use through the increase in the built area made
possible by the flexibility of the warehouses and the low cost of the land, in addition to the potential for
verticalisation in the renovation sector which the law allowed. The main equipments foreseen for this area
are: a university centre; a business training centre; a centre for business incubators; and work centres for
start-ups and for Information Technology companies.
The spatial distribution of the first stage of the PDDP (2001) foresaw a number of anchor projects:
Incubanet (networks of technically based business incubators); ITBC (Information Technology Business
Center – a business centre for companies associated with Softex-Recife); CESAR (Centre for the Study of
Advanced Systems of Recife); SECTMA (Secretariat of Science, Technology, and the Environment of the
Government of the State of Pernambuco), all of which were implemented. Among such projects there also
21
Foundation for the Municipal Development of Pernambuco [Fundação de Desenvolvimento Municipal de Pernambuco].
existed the New Captaincy for Information Technology, which consists of a university complex where the
building of the Captaincy of the Port currently exists. The installation of this complex has been expected
since 2001 but up to now has not been implemented.
This seems to be the great problem, and a fruit of what could be considered the urbanistic
pretention of the Porto Digital, in that it defines uses on the scale of street blocks or groups of buildings
without considering their actual owners or their intentions to change, sell, rent or lease. Another example
of this sort is the existence of the Pilar Factory where the PDDP (2001) foresees the installation of work
centres for Information Technology companies. The attitude of the PDDP (2001) can be compared to that of
an urban scale real estate agent: it presents its client with the product, its potential for the use of space and
for strategic locations at the local, metropolitan, and regional scales, its cultural and leisure added value,
and finally proposes the best localisation for the client’s undertaking.
Figure 06: The initial territory of the Porto Digital and the uses foreseen for the development of its activities.
Source: PORTO DIGITAL, 2001.
What is the city that the Porto Digital needs to be able to develop? (2nd stage)
The second stage of the proposal proposes “uses which can bring dynamism to the technological
city”, with a view to supplying varied alternatives and a good quality of life to its residents and users
(PORTO DIGITAL, 2001). This foresees housing; temporary accommodation; supporting commerce and
services; and leisure, culture and entertainment. With respect to housing the PDDP (2001) foresees the
expansion of the actions of BID/Monumenta (a Federal government heritage restoration project) in the
southern part of the Bairro, with studios and units of 1 or 2 bedrooms. In a similar way it adopts the
proposal for the community of Pilar which was developed by the Prefeitura of Recife, but amplifies the
supply of housing by taking advantage of the legal framework of the municipality, proposing, for two
blocks, buildings of up to 12 floors with an Information Technology work centre on the ground floor,
parking and apartments.
In order to provide temporary accommodation the proposals foresee the conversion of the building
Votorantim into a block of small apartments, the conversion of Warehouse 11 into a design hotel, and the
provision of a hostel. The activities of commerce and services follow the logic of the undertakings in the
Alfândega Pole, and aim to reinforce the axis from Alfândega-Rua da Moeda to Warehouse 13 which would
be a commercial complex which would complement the activities of the Pole. Two other localities with
potential for commerce and services are also identified: one in Rua do Apolo and Rua da Guia which does
not have the exact activities identified; while the other is the conversion of a building near Pilar Church into
a supermarket. Finally the proposals locate a business centre with a shopping centre for Information
Technology commerce and services in Av. Martin Luther King, which, according to the current legislation,
would be permitted to construct up to 12 floors (PORTO DIGITAL, 2001).
With respect to leisure, culture and entertainment, the PDDP (2001) reiterates the proposals of the
PRBR (1992) and those of the Technical Office of the Bairro of Recife (1993-96) for continuous leisure
circuits, with services for the provision of food, tourist information, contemplation and social interaction, as
well as a jogging track, sports courts, cycling tracks and roads for local traffic.
Figure 07: The initial territory of the Porto Digital, showing the distribution of the activities necessary for the
technological city and the functioning of the Porto Digital.
Source: PORTO DIGITAL, 2001.
In this second stage of the proposals one can identify the incorporation of the ideas of the earlier
plans, of actions which have already been implemented, and of the current legislation. It is as if the
financial investment scenario existing in the Bairro was the determining driver for the installation of the
Porto Digital. If there was no history of success, even if at a slow pace, of preservation and investments in
the Bairro of Recife, the Porto Digital would find another strategic location for its activities. Because of this
it is necessary to recognise that the association Bairro of Recife-Porto Digital was not by chance. All the
apparatus of preservation, the combined historic, cultural, economic and financial values, and principally
the current legislation, which has a character more encouraging than restrictive, allow the Bairro to be seen
by the Porto Digital as the best strategic location within the city of Recife. None of the discussion about
localisation and viability, and none of the proposals would exist if the current planning for the Bairro was
out of date.
In fact the city that the Porto Digital needs was already in construction before it existed, in the
shape of the Bom Jesus Pole and the Alfândega Pole. However, the Alfândega Pole and the Bom Jesus Pole
are urban-historic spaces which are hostages of the urban revitalisation paradigm produced by urban
capitalism, and identified by theoreticians such as Harvey (2000) and Jameson (1997) as the usurpation of
modernity in favour of the corporativism of power (capital) and the imperialism of culture (consumption).
In this system the cultural logic of advanced capitalism, which transposes the capitalism of the market by
incorporating the expansion of culture into the sphere of merchandise (cultural production = merchandise
production), has repercussions in urban planning in two ways: the “collage city” which acts in the urban
sphere in a pluralist and organic way, abandoning modernist zonings; and “urban revitalisation”, as a
substitute for “urban renovation”.
This new form of revitalisation led to a change in the paradigm of urban planning, abandoning
conventional planning, which determines land use, for an entrepreneurial form of planning, which
encourages urban growth, as if the city was a machine for the production of wealth (HALL, 1995).
Paola Berenstein and Lílian Fessler (2001) identify three cultural-economic phases: the culture
industry, the spectacularisation of culture, and the process of globalisation. The culture industry depends
on mass cultural consumption, the artistic values of which are diversion and entertainment. The
spectacularisation of culture is a product of the culture industry in which the accumulated capital
transforms itself in images, alienating the society from its earlier values, making the world more
proletarian, and in which the merchandising of the spectacle defines social life (DEBORD, 1997). Finally, the
process of globalisation is the means for inserting the spaces of the cities into the flow of international
finance.
Financial capital directs and determines the production of the constructed environment, and is
responsible for: the transfiguration of the culture into cultural consumption; the overvaluing of the
historical; the emergence of the heritage industry; the spectacularisation of urban life and the
dissemination of the processes of revitalisation of decadent urban areas, in order to stimulate an increase
in the financial value of the historic urban space. This whole set of ideas, although they are superficially
explained here, point to the clear recognition of the superiority of the functioning of the culture of
consumption, as driven by financial capital, for the economic development of the Bairro of Recife since
1992.
It is exactly against this tendency, although still associated with the logic of globalisation itself, that
the Porto Digital presents a new scenario. Its functioning in the urban environment of the Bairro of Recife
materialises in the static constructed stock of buildings, as a dynamic flux of capital for the physical
transformation of the architectonic environment in places devoted to the consumption of Information and
Communication Technology, and not only to cultural consumption – whether material or immaterial. It is
necessary to recognise that this is its great differential, because it seeks to avoid an environment planned
purely for cultural consumption, as was formulated by the PRBR (1992). The PDDP (2001) recognises and
absorbs cultural consumption as a characteristic of current society, but does not use it as the basis for
development. The Porto Digital ties itself to a recent aspect of culture: digital culture, which belongs to
nowhere and to everywhere at the same time. It also has a potential to generate a level of consumption
which is infinitely greater than the cultural consumption highlighted above.
Paradoxically, the two forms of consumption pervade the PDDP. However, cultural consumption,
which has a local scale, makes use of values associated with the urban space - especially those with touristic
potential, and requires a person to be physically present to enjoy the consumption, is not the central focus
of the Porto Digital. The consumption in which the Porto Digital it is interested is on a global scale, and
requires an urban environment to develop its economic activity, attend to distant clients, and develop
products which can be consumed anywhere. What the two forms of consumption have in common is the
urban space of the Bairro of Recife, but while the first creates scenarios, the second develops a work
environment. However, it is even more interesting to note that the two do not cancel each other out, or
exist separately in the technological city, as at the end of the day both are a part of contemporary society.
Porto Digital 2010-2015 (3rd stage)
Finally, the third stage of the proposal involves a move into the area of the traditional Port of the
Bairro of Recife, proposing new uses. Currently half of the area is used by the port administration and the
other half is leased by companies. This proposed move is supported by FIDEM which inserted the Porto
Digital into the Strategic Metropolis project as a component which could be of interest for the occupation
of unused areas, with the port region itself being an area which that project highlighted as unused. With
this the PDDP (2001) proposes that the infrastructure of “its technological city” be completed by providing
a continuation of the leisure area, with sports courts and a pedestrianised area, a business centre, a Data
Centre, a Marine technology centre, another hotel complex and the largest housing and commerce area.
The proposal completes the Stations circuit, by expanding the system of mobility and planning for parking.
Figure 08: Porto Digital 2010-2015.
Source: PORTO DIGITAL, 2001
In a wider reflection on this subject one could link the Porto Digital to the process of transformation
of industrial, mechanised, society into the Society of Knowledge or the Society of Information, which in a
general sense involves the economic ascension of the activities of information production and services.
Since the industrial revolution the development, and technological application, of science has always
determined its productivity.
However, in the last 30 years the level of technological development, especially in terms of
information technology and communications, required and produced a much more refined level of
knowledge, based on an economy in which the greatest production costs stemmed from the contribution
of intellectual work, in comparison to all the other phases of production. The society of knowledge is a fruit
of technological evolution and is, necessarily, linked to globalisation, where this is understood to be the
emergence of a global capitalist economic market, which is integrated, although hierarchical with respect
to direct external investments, and incorporates new information technologies.
This reality produces a national innovation system22 which combines “technical and institutional
factors which favour innovative activities, promote gains in productivity and accelerate the process of the
accumulation of capital in a given national economic space” (THEIS, 2002, p.79). Given this the Porto Digital
can be considered a global phenomenon, capable of dynamising the regional economy, by focusing on the
local and regional scale.
The regional scope of the Porto Digital is present in the fact that it reflects a characteristic of the
State of Pernambuco as an information technology development pole, which allows it to bring existing
regional companies together in its enterprise. But the Porto Digital, with its Development Plan, is also seen
as a local development strategy, inserted in a worldwide picture of economic restructuring, which is
marked by the decentralisation of production and the re-centralisation of the flows of capital, merchandise
and information. In this way the Porto Digital becomes one of the representatives of the urban economy of
Recife as it seeks to insert itself, as a connection node, into the global network of cities.
Jordi Borja and Manuel Castells (1998) present three hierarchic urban levels of a polycentric
network, in which one can consider the relationship between the local and the global as a consequence of
the processes of urban transformation. The first level is composed of the main metropolitan areas of the
world, because of their concentration of quality, power, capital, and above all international finance. The
second level is represented by the great world cities, which are directly linked to global management; while
the third level encompasses the new markets, which interact with the world economy as regional centres.
It is at this third level that a future scenario foresees the concrete and significant insertion of Recife
into the world network of globalised cities. However, it is important to make clear that Borja and Castells
do not believe in the maintenance of this hierarchy, because of the level of competition which the
hierarchy itself creates. Instead they believe that the connections between cities will emerge in the form of
networks, and not pyramids.
The global city is a network of urban nodes at distinct levels and with distinct functions
which extends over the whole planet and which functions as the nerve centre of the new
economy, in an interactive system of variable geometry to which companies and cities must
constantly and flexibly adapt themselves (BORJA & CASTELLS, 1998, p.43) [translated from a
portuguese translation].
Given that the global city functions through networks, which signifies the collapse of the current
hierarchy, it is very unlikely that Recife will manage to locate itself in the network of global cities as a strong
representative of the international financial flows which characterise the Global Cities: great metropolises
which concentrate international financial flows, and are representatives of the highest level of production
of specialised services, giving them global control of economic operations (SASSEN, 1998). However, it
cannot be denied or neglected that the Porto Digital, along with the other actions for the revitalisation of
22
With respect to the conceptual theory of the transition of Industrial Society to the Knowledge Society, Ivan Theis (2002) uses neosmithian,
neoschumpeterian, and neomarxist approaches to the Theory of Regulation - making more use of the latter two, to propose that as much from the
neomarxist perspective as from the neoschumpeterian the technological parks and business incubators can be considered global phenomena,
associated with the technological paradigm change. From the neomarxist point of view this change involves alterations in both the organisation of
work, and the productive processes, while from the neoschumpeterian point of view this new paradigm involves the formation of a national
innovation system.
the Bairro of Recife can be considered an urban, economic, strategic and local, preface for the development
of Recife and its admission into a globalised market.
The broader intention of inserting Recife into the network of global cities will, in accordance with
the presumptions of the global cities paradigm, depend on the local urban context. This involves factors
inherent to the Bairro of Recife such as: accessibility; the central localisation in relation to the urban road
network; the concentration of the financial market; the quality of life (which the PDDP intends to improve
within the space of the Bairro); its specific nature as an historic centre which is being revitalised and its
urban marketing. Similarly, other internal factors, which are not specifically linked to the physical context,
such as: the determination of the state political actors to develop the Porto Digital project; the vocation of
the city as a centre of information technology knowledge; the implementation of the digital infrastructure;
the availability of a workforce which already works with information; and the existence of direct links
between the local and the global23, are and were crucial for the implantation of the Porto Digital in the
Bairro of Recife.
In a particular way the urban space of the Bairro of Recife brings together two strong paradigms
which have been widespread since the 1970s: information technology and the revitalisation of the historic
centre. This interaction means that the Bairro of Recife is the only example, on the national scale, which
incorporates various urban phenomena such as: revitalisation, computerisation, and urban
spectacularisation and “culturisation” - which can all be connected together with great ease as they are all
part of the desired local development.
Beyond all of which has been presented so far there is another challenge to be considered: the
symbolic transformation of the place. This is because, as the plan itself admits “there are few people who
can imagine themselves living in the Bairro of Recife or owners who can imagine earning money from their
buildings on the basis of undertakings which convert whole blocks into centres for business incubators or
groups of Information Technology Companies” (PORTO DIGITAL, 2001, n. pag.). Even in the face of this
paradox, the Porto Digital is slowly consolidating itself. However, of its persuasive, pretentious, and
occasionally coherent, Development Plan proposed within the context of an ambitious vision of the future
of the digital economy, very few of the changes planned in the physical space, at street block scale, or in
the quality of the environment, have been implemented.
The spatial reality of the Bairro of Recife remains true to tradition: it is slowly transforming itself.
The Porto Digital Development Plan does not have the strength to bring immediate transformation to the
urban environment. It depends on the actions of political actors to fulfil its proposals for improvements in
mobility and in the quality of the urban space, or in terms or social housing. The tax exemptions
incorporated in Law No. 16.290 were not, alone, sufficient to bring investments to the Bairro on the scale
proposed by the PDDP. The planning actions foreseen for the Bairro of Recife have not been “discarded”,
but the changes in the political actors have decelerated its implementation. It is highly unlikely that the
Bairro of Recife will pass through a new urban reform similar to that implemented at the start of the 20th
century, but it will probably continue to be an environment for which there are great expectations of
economic, social and spatial changes. The Porto Digital continues to be a very present and influential
element in the urban reality of the Bairro.
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