Analysis of the relations between the built landscapes and social representations of the municipalities of São José dos Campos and Arapeí

Abstract The Metropolitan Region of the Paraíba Valley and North Coast (MRPVNC) represents a fruitful scenario the study of social representations. The current territorial conformation exposes the occurrence of historical processes peculiar to each municipality in this Region, and therefore, the remarkable heterogeneity in its socio-spatial content. The study of social representations has allowed the interpretation of regional realities by means of the reading of the built space and its symbols. The municipalities of Sao José dos Campos and Arapeí, whose socio-spatial contrasts are representative of the regional diversity and which have local identities that are quite unique, were selected for the present study. These municipalities were analyzed from the perspective of social representations, considering the symbologies that have consolidated the identities created and resignified over the twentieth century. In this sense, this article presents the analysis of São José dos Campos and Arapeí considering the built landscapes and the social representations propagated by their respective local authorities.