Urban polychromy in inequality contexts: a critical-experimental methodology from the top view

Abstract

Urban polychromy is determined by geographic, cultural, historical, social, and economic factors, and reflects a combination of natural and artificial elements. This article explores an urban chromatic analysis that relates the colours present in the urban environment to the socioeconomic and racial contexts and profiles of the population. To accomplish this, an experimental scientific-artistic methodology was developed, focusing on an analysis from the top view. The study is centred on Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The primary goal of this investigation is to analyse the urban polychromy of the city through the development of an experimental methodology. It also seeks to explore the relationship between urban polychromy and the city's social-spacial and interseccional dynamics. As resources, satellite images were associated with urban parameters and demographic data such as income and race of the population by census tract (from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) - 2010 Brazilian Census). Eight samples were selected to support the production of predominance graphs, using the Natural Colour System (NCS). Manual collages were also assembled to bring the human scale and urban dynamics not visible in satellite images alone. The samples from Belo Horizonte show that the colour scheme is made up of shades of blue, red, green, yellow and grey, respectively, as well as mostly dark and low saturated colours. The results were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, and reveal that urban colour highlights and accompanies the inequalities present in the city, such as the relationship between the presence of vegetation integrated into the occupation and the quality of urban life, and the choices of roofs for residential buildings. The development of an experimental methodology made it possible to explore new perspectives – intersectional, environmental and decolonial-, in the field of urban chromatic analysis, addressing previously neglected perspectives, such as the top view. It is important to note that the quantitative data obtained from the images is not highly accurate. To increase accuracy, future research should adopt the most standardised conditions possible for capturing the images. Due to the size of the object of study, the next ideal step would be to test and evaluate the methodology’s performance in a smaller sample that can be analysed in its entirety.