Indicators for Evaluation of Areas with Historic, Cultural and Environmental Heritage: Case Study of Galo Branco Farm in Sao Jose Dos Campos/SP

Abstract

The Vale do Paraiba, a region which has a population estimated at 3 million inhabitants, whose urbanization level consists of 93, 54%, made by the conurbation of 39 cities, has the greatest set of historical patrimony of the state of Sao Paulo, related to the economic coffee cycle. The region features a complex context concerning its historical interrelations, which has been the study of a lot of researches to comprehend historical facts which might help identify cultural and environmental values of the present. In this context, the current research mainly aims at elaborating a new pattern of inventory, which characterizes and classifies the cultural patrimony within the environmental preservation area. The process to develop the study involved: contextualizing and defining cultural patrimony categories; analysis of the theoretical references and the Brazilian standardization about the subject; the conceptual approach of geomorphologic patrimony analyzed with regard to the landscape context; the elaboration of a system of indicators from the case-study; selecting and defining the indicators to characterize the historical landscape; and the proposition of a practical and feasible methodological instrument to identify cultural and environmental assets.