Áreas de mineração recuperadas e a criação de espaços urbanos e serviços ecossistêmicos em cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis: evolução normativa e experiências no Brasil e Colômbia

Abstract

In recent decades, the advancement of urbanization and the challenges arising from this growth have fueled the debate on models of smart and sustainable cities aimed at improving quality of life and urban management. In this context, the recovery of mined areas emerges as a strategic alternative for territorial requalification, enabling urban planning through the creation of infrastructure and the provision of essential ecosystem services in contemporary cities, particularly in locations that originally lacked this vocation. This research aims to analyze the normative evolution concerning the recovery of mined areas in Brazil and Colombia, establishing connections with the creation of urban spaces and the promotion of ecosystem services in reference studies — Parque Ibirapuera (São Paulo/SP, Brazil) and the San Germán Neighborhood – Indural Partial Plan (Medellín, Colombia) — both located in areas previously affected by mining and now recognized as examples of urban recovery in smart and sustainable cities. The research is qualitative and exploratory in nature, based on documentary and bibliographic analysis, supported by specialized literature on sustainable cities, land use and occupation, and ecosystem services. The legislative analysis was conducted through the collection and interpretation of laws, decrees, resolutions, and master plans, applying the content analysis technique proposed by Bardin (2016) to understand how legal instruments contribute to the conversion of mined areas into sustainable urban spaces. Based on this systematization, a summary chart and a normative timeline were developed. A critical interpretation was also carried out, following Creswell (2010; 2014), relating legal frameworks to the reference studies in order to assess the effectiveness and applicability of regulations in the reconversion of mined areas into sustainable urban spaces. The results show that the Brazilian legislative process on mining and the environment was evolutionary and reactive, accompanying social and economic transformations. In this trajectory, Parque Ibirapuera stands out as a pioneering landmark in the recovery of degraded areas, created before the existence of specific regulations, becoming a symbol of territorial resilience and the valorization of ecosystem services as the foundation of urban quality of life. In Colombia, the Indural Partial Plan reflects a continuous normative evolution that enabled the transformation of former mined areas into spaces of coexistence and sustainability, although ecological and environmental restoration remains limited. It is concluded that the regeneration of mined areas can become a strategic vector for the development of smart and sustainable cities, provided 9 there is coordination between legal instruments, technological innovation, and participatory governance.