ABSTRACT
Despite being defined as a sustainable city, Curitiba has grown in the absence of environmental policies. Urban and environmental regulations were disregarded even after the establishment of a legal conservation framework in the 1960s in Brazil. In the 1990s, under the aegis of “ecological capital”, environmental policies achieved significant results regarding solid waste, not water resources. The settlements in the basin of the Belém River, which is totally urban, are characterised by the presence of irregularities such as elevated rates of soil impermeability, in addition to situations of high socio-environmental vulnerability, concerning the slums along the river. This study seeks to assess the impact of settlements on urban river basins using a transdisciplinary approach, in which the social dimension of sustainability is addressed from four perspectives: ecological, economic, political and cultural. Neglect of legislation, devaluation of property prices and social vulnerability point to the unsustainability of the settlements, and yet the findings indicate that residents have a positive perception of their wellbeing. This counterintuitive result draws attention to a complexity of factors involved in sustainable wellbeing.
