Urban Fringe Belts in Planned New Towns: The Case of Maringá – Brazil

Abstract

This paper aims to ascertain the existence and characteristics of urban fringe belts in a planned new town. M. R. G. Conzen debugged the concept of urban fringe belts, designed by Hebert Louis by the observation of medieval cities. According to Conzen, urban fringe belts shape physically and urban development can be glimpsed through the merger of public and institutional reforms of the urban edge, due to expansion of residential areas, thereby representing the fringe belts in concentric rings, cycles of life and urban growth waves spot in town. However, the possible existence of urban fringe belts in a planned new town suggests a slightly different case. Thus, a particular analysis method was adapted to the reality of Maringa, Brazil. Public facilities and private lots of low occupancy were considered. The urban fringes were then signaled on subsequent maps of urban development which allowed representing the emergence, stagnation and modifying of urban fringe belts in five periods of urban growth. As a results showed that, despite the peculiarities of a new city, is possible to identify urban fringe belts. In Maringá it’s also noticed two distinct formations: urban fringle belts more consistent, formed by zoning and; urban fringe belts of institutional use that arise accompanying urban growth.