The vegetation in the urban centers: considerations on the green spaces in brazilian medium cities

Abstract

The present paper intends to identify the importance of vegetation for Brazilian urban areas. Vegetation has been understood as an important element by the perception of the community and city planners since century XIX. The objective of the paper is to understand how vegetation gets in urban centers and how it perpetuates as a special element associated to public squares. The emphasis given to plazas is justified by important presence of this kind of public squares on urban centers. It is important in this paper to discuss vegetation diversity, its use for the poorest part of population and the negligence of government related to this places. Then, the paper presented intends to give importance to aspects of vegetation and public squares in Presidente Prudente – SP, Ribeirão Preto – SP and Uberlândia – MG, all considered average cities. KEY-WORDS: Urban vegetation, life condition, urbanization, recreation, average cities.