CIDADES ESPONJA: o uso do geoprocessamento aplicado ao planejamento de gestão sustentável da água pluvial em Belo Horizonte-MG

Abstract

The city of Belo Horizonte faces increasingly intense and devastating floods, a fact that highlights the problems in the relationship between water resources and the urban environment. The aim of this master’s research is to understand how the implementation of the sponge city model in the urban planning of Belo Horizonte, supported by the use of geoprocessing, can contribute to sustainable stormwater management and to the mitigation of impacts caused by flooding. The research adopts an interdisciplinary and innovative approach, aligned with international guidelines such as the sponge city model, offering sustainable and replicable solutions for urban drainage in vulnerable contexts, with potential application in public policies in Brazil. The sponge city concept proposes the use of permeable surfaces to absorb and store rainwater, in addition to contributing to flood mitigation under climate change scenarios. The study employs an analytical scientific method with a qualitative–quantitative approach, integrating a literature review, historical analysis, and the application of geotechnologies. Techniques such as thematic mapping, hydrodynamic simulations, and spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and georeferenced data will be applied, aiming to identify flood-prone areas and to assess urban drainage in order to propose guidelines with nature-based solutions. However, it is acknowledged that the availability and accuracy of hydrological and geographic data may, at times, affect the precision of simulations and the immediate applicability of proposed urban interventions. Nevertheless, the proper use of hydrodynamic modeling tools associated with geotechnologies, such as HEC-RAS, can enhance sustainable urban planning by enabling the identification of areas vulnerable to flooding, thereby allowing for more effective interventions. Thus, it is expected to demonstrate that the application of the sponge city model, combined with geoprocessing, is feasible in urban contexts such as Belo Horizonte, contributing significantly to flood mitigation and to improvements in stormwater management.