O alastramento das igrejas evangélicas na paisagem urbana do Rio de Janeiro: uma análise comparativa dos bairros Campo Grande e Barra da Tijuca

Abstract

This study investigates the territorial spread of Evangelical churches within the urban fabric of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, visible in the city's landscape, using the neighborhoods of Campo Grande and Barra da Tijuca as spatial samples. It explores a possible relationship between the quality of the urban environment and the neighborhoods' socioeconomic indicators with the quantity of religious spaces found within them. The issue is related to the vertiginous and isolated growth of the Evangelical religion at a national level, especially since the 1970s, notably in areas with low levels of social development and investment in urban infrastructure. Thus, examining the urban realities that encouraged or inhibited such spreading is justified. For the field of Urbanism, the analysis contributes to fostering the perception of Evangelical expansion through the lens of the built landscape in the urban environment, much as has been done with Catholic churches when studying the historical effects of their domination and influence on the formation of cities. The choice of Rio de Janeiro is based on the high concentration of Evangelical establishments and followers in the city, which was also the birthplace of denominations that are, today, among the largest in the country. The objective is to understand the distribution and setting of Evangelical spaces in the city's fabric and landscape, utilizing the two aforementioned neighborhoods which, for comparative purposes, were selected as a sample space due to their historical, socioeconomic, and quantity of religious spaces contrasts, despite being close and belonging to an area of the city once considered part of the same geographical division. Methodologically, the analysis began with mappings conducted at the municipal scale, using data from the 2022 Census, in order to understand the spatial distribution of religious addresses and other uses. Based on the axes of concentration and deconcentration of the mapped establishments, the neighborhoods for the analytical framework were determined. Supporting the contextualization of the phenomenon, in addition to a literature review and theoretical framework, surveys and syntheses of data regarding religious populations at the national and municipal levels were conducted, along with historical overviews of the neighborhoods and an analysis of their urban contexts, highlighting their main urban facilities and socioeconomic indicators, to finally arrive at the analysis of the churches within their landscapes.