The role of public authorities in the construction of urban collective memory

Caçador (SC)

Abstract

This article discusses the government’s interventions on historical sites through a case study about the revitalization project of the Caçador’s railway yard in Santa Catarina, part of the former Estrada de Ferro São Paulo – Rio Grande. This study aims to trigger the reflection on the link between the city and the collective memory, as well as to understand how the government’s interventions can affect the construction of the memory in the social context. Therefore, this study approaches this issue on two fronts. The first one focuses on the urban space, analyzing the institutional interventions carried out, whereas the second concentrates on the individuals, asking them about their perception, meanings and memories related to the place through interviews. The results show little interest, from the institutional  interventions, in integrating and highlighting the railway heritage – although it finds resonance in the interviewees’ memory. On the other hand, the project sought to represent the city’s memory in a personalist way through monuments representing personalities who would have had a “more relevant role” in the history of Caçador. However, these monuments do not find resonance among the people. Finally, we understand that the project does little to evoke the site’s past and does not contribute to the construction of a collective memory that considers its heritage, mainly the railway heritage, and the community in an inclusive way.