AMAZONS WITHIN THE AMAZON: A MULTISCALE ASSESSMENT OF URBANIZATION By ROBERTA MENDONÇA DE CARVALHO A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 © 2019 Roberta Mendonça De Carvalho To my father Roberto (in memorian), whom I lost during the PhD way ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I had to step away to see it better. The wonders of Geography, with so many dimensions of space, and the dance of scales before and beyond our eyes has always amazed me. If I was born a geographer and my study proves that. I write these words still shaken by the final dot of my dissertation. My hands are trembling, my heart racing. It is done. I breathe yoga breaths. I stretch yoga stretches. And I look back. Yes, I did it, but not alone. I identify countless DNAs of help. No words will ever fully express my gratitude for a helping hand when I was on the verge of drowning. And oh boy, I have drowned countless times. Each time, I was rescued by one or many of the people in my supporting system. I am grateful for all the smiles I encountered on a rainy day, guidance unasked for, and models of scholarly and professional behavior. I thank my fellow PhD students. Alexandra Sabo was my favorite reviewer (to say the least). Aghane Antunes was my oracle. Aline Carrara was Aline. Gabriel Carrero was my neighbor in Gainesville and in Geography. Caroline Huguenin offered hugs, wise words of encouragement and map-rescue magics. Angelica Nunes gave kind ears and great reviews. Isabel, Felipe, and Cloê’s Friday visits gave me reasons to smile. Carmem Beatriz offered hugs and ears. Joe Lacey spent his valuable hours revising my work, and others more encouraging me to move on. Simone Athayde shared academic support and yoga; David Kaplan was an inspiration in scholarship; Jane Southworth wisely leads the Geography Department. I give huge thanks to my adviser in the last round, Timothy Fik; and committee member Steven Perz. I appreciate all of my Geography Department colleagues, students, faculty, and staff. I especially thank fellow graduate students Audrey Smith 4 and Mehedy Hussain; and Administrative Assistant Alex Henao. Claudio Szlafzstein was my former adviser, co-author, friend and now colleague. Ritaumaria Pereira spread the news that led me here. Evandro Moretto shared a great dataset that made possible most analysis in my study. I thank the University of Florida; the Water Institute Fellow (WIGF) 2015 cohort and faculty; and the Tropical Conservation Development (TCD) Program, including professors, staff and students. Cynthia Simmons and Robert Walker offered support from early days, nearly to the end. I am also extremely grateful to those I love and have neglected. I thank Nazaré Imbiriba (Chuca) for teaching me to see beyond what is in my eyes. I thank my family and friends for understanding of the long retreat, especially the ones in Brazil. In particular but not limited to my stepson Rafael, aunt Ana Claudia; baby sister Edra and baby brother Lucas. I thank my sister Kedyma for not having me there but having me here. I thank my friend-for-life, Danielle Redig. Thank you to my brother, Ygor Carvalho, for his surprise visits and unconditional support. I thank brothers-in-law Justin Schweitzer and Arlindo Siqueira, family I did not chose, but love. For my daughter is the true reason I want to become a better person and a scholar. I thank her for spending her teenager years with a mostly unavailable PhD mom. I thank my mother, for being there more than ever. Sempre. She was a rock: a rock that kept me rolling, pushing me, guiding me, and sometimes, even dragging me to the right path. She has always defied barriers and set a high example. I could never have done it without the privilege of being her daughter. 5 I wish I had the chance to thank my father. We lost him unexpectedly in my first month of this doctoral program. Above all, I thank my beloved husband and life-long accomplice. He said yes when most said no. He said yes to me, and to the adventure of our lives. For courageously stepped completely outside his comfort zone. He was my comfort zone w whether I had none I had plenty. He encouraged me to have wings and fly, even if that meant cutting up his own arms wings. This is not an end. Instead, I see this as a point along my journey. I am eager to turn the page and move to the next chapter. Before I move on, I pause to look back fondly at what was accomplished. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 11 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1 AMAZONS WITHIN THE AMAZON: A MULTISCALE ASSESSMENT OF URBANIZATION ..................................................................................................... 14 2 URBANIZATION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON: HOMOGENOUS OR HETEROGENOUS? ............................................................................................... 17 Study Area .............................................................................................................. 20 Process of Amazon Occupation .............................................................................. 20 Far from Pristine: Uncovering the Colonial Narrative ....................................... 20 Historical Background: State Development Programs ...................................... 22 Population: Reconfiguring the Amazon ............................................................ 25 Spatial Reconfiguration: Theoretical Background for Drivers of Urbanization and Municipal Division ................................................................................................ 27 Drivers of Urbanization in the Amazonian Context ........................................... 27 Cities of the Forest or Forest of the Cities ........................................................ 29 Heterogeneity in Unplanned Urban Occupation in the Amazon ....................... 30 Hydropower as a Driver of Urbanization ........................................................... 33 Methods and Data .................................................................................................. 36 Data .................................................................................................................. 36 Variables of the Model ...................................................................................... 37 Outcome variable ....................................................................................... 37 Dummy variable ......................................................................................... 37 Independent variables ................................................................................ 38 Latitude and longitude ................................................................................ 38 Quadrants .................................................................................................. 38 Results and Discussion........................................................................................... 39 Model Fitness ................................................................................................... 39 Concluding Remarks............................................................................................... 46 3 HYDROPOWER INFRASTRUCTURE AND STATE-SCALE URBANIZATION ...... 55 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 58 7 Study Area .............................................................................................................. 60 Pará in Amazon Context ......................................................................................... 63 Historic Overview of Municipality Formation ..................................................... 66 Attempts to Understand Urbanization in Pará .................................................. 73 Urbanization and Hydropower Systems .................................................................. 74 Hydropower in Pará .......................................................................................... 74 Tucuruí Hydropower Plant: Some Historical Background ................................. 76 A Broader Horizon for a Dam's Impacts: Connection to Urbanization .............. 77 Methods .................................................................................................................. 79 Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 79 Data Set ........................................................................................................... 80 Outcome variable – urban population percentage ..................................... 80 Proposed versus conventional “hydro” variable ......................................... 81 Categorical variable across time ................................................................ 82 Models .............................................................................................................