The city of Bauru and the Noroeste do Brasil railway: international comparisons and the questo to value e requalify the railroad and industrial heritage in Brazil.

Abstract

The construction of the railway Noroeste do Brasil, located in the western portion of São Paulo state, can be considered an example of the internationalization of European and Brazilian companies, made possible by national and French-Belgian investments, in a still little urbanized territory, since 65% of state’s area were urbanized by railroad companies while advancing the “Pioneer Front”. The company’s initial strategy was to connect the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso (currently Mato Grosso do Sul), however, the project went through frequent changes and acquired international features that would allow the communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This strategy of internationalization demonstrates the diffusion of technical and scientific progress driven by railways in the country, a way of transporting people and goods able to modify territorial habits and structures. Analyzing these and other data enabled the creation of a studies network based on the urban centers developed by the railroad and the impacts of the transition to road transport, which intensified in the region during the 1960s. A dynamic scenario, capable of describing mobility heritage as an open museum.