URBAN GROWTH, POVERTY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE AMAZON REGION

Brazil has experienced an economic development and achieved in 2012 the sixth position in the World economy ranking. As a consequence of economic growth, the Federal Government has invested in social policies that attempt to mitigate extreme poverty in the country. Policies such as "Bolsa Família", "Light for All" and "PAC - Growth Acceleration Plan" were proposed to increase family income and infrastructure, especially in urban areas. However, several Brazilian cities, such as the Amazonian ones, which have grown since 1980 considering the Region an urbanized forest, reproduce structural problems. According to 2010 Census, the urban population in the region grew by 36.6% between 1980 and 1991, 30.3% between 1991 and 2000, and 18.8% from 2000 to 2010. In 2010, 93.3% of the Brazilian Amazon cities were considered small in terms of population (less than 50,000 inhabitants), and concentrated 39% of the total urban population of the region. In this sense, we intend to discuss in this paper the situation of urban space in the Brazilian Amazon in terms of infrastructure and socio-economic conditions, and the conditions of sustainability, using the city of Ponta de Pedras, located in Para State, as an example.