Santa Cruz do Sul e sua evolução urbana : 1855-2000.

Abstract

During the last 150 years, Santa Cruz, originally a small settlement, became an industrial city, leading the development of the Vale do Rio Pardo´s region. Surrounded by several aspects, it stretched ahead through time and was marked by meaningful events that influenced its history and present urban shape. In 1855 the settlement was set up to give support to trading and service activities of agricultural production. An advantageously road built on top of its hills helped the settlement to grow in a very fast way and by the year 1859, just four years after, Santa Cruz do Sul had turned into a village. With such a sucess, its agricultural diversity continued to support commerce and trade at a larger range and from village it became a town in 1878, politically independent from Rio Pardo City. And so Santa Cruz do Sul´s urban development kept on growing, leveraged by increased tobacco production, processing and export. Once more, in 1917, increased incentives equipped its urbanization an development due to its status of industrialized village provided mainly by tobacco indusries, considered, at that time, one of the first industries of the 20th century. During the 40´s and 50´s huge economic changes occurred swinging between periods of growth and recession. The beginning of a transnacionalization of the tobacco industry after 1965 brought along significant transformation not only by increased output but also a modern infrastructure investiment was made, affecting Santa Cruz´s previous urban lay-out. Rural emigration to town began and it was followed by a natural expansion of the city in its outskirts, where factory workers bought pieces of land, build their houses and raised their families. After several decades of prosperity, Santa Cruz do Sul is now having to face its excessive dependence on tobacco industry, which has shrunk due to the economic merging processes and advancedment in technology. Lately, Santa Cruz do Sul is searching for other new economical perspectives, looking for greater diversification of its industry and service in order to maintain its conquered dynamic leadership condition in the Vale do Rio Pardo region.