Desenvolvimento sustentável : o paradigma territorial a partir do conceito de espaço vital de Friedrich Ratzel - 1844 - 1904.

Abstract

The debate about the possibility of the region, while a vital space, to come as main subject of the sustainable development, is the central theme of this dissertation. For the development of this bibliographical research, the presuppositions were analyzed as well as the origin of the concept of sustainable development, which starts from the discussion on the non-sustenance of the model of current development. Thus, the debate was based in the environmental, social and territorial subjects. The possibility of doing a connection between the conception of vital space – LEBENSRAUM – by Friedrich Ratzel (1844 - 1904), and the new paradigmatic perspectives of the end of 20th century, in territorial terms, has been verified. As a result, two tendencies were verified acting in the correlation of forces in sear chof the sustainable development: the global forces moving through nets and the local forces which try to establish relationships with the contiguous territories. Therefore, it was verified that the region, in the perspective of the vital space, is constituted as the subject of the sustainable development, in which life needs come as priority.