SANTA ROSA DEL YAVARÍ: REINTERPRETING URBAN DRAWING TOOLS

FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SOLUTIONS TO SMALL VULNERABLE

TERRITORIES AFFECTED BY THE LEVEL VARIATION IN THE WATERS

Resumen

Santa Rosa do Yavari es una pequeña isla peruana ubicada en la triple frontera amazónica que conecta Perú con Brasil y
Colombia, a través de las ciudades de Tabatinga (BRA) y Letícia (COL). La Isla sufre inundaciones periódicas provocadas
por la variación del nivel del río que prácticamente impide la actividad agrícola. Esto la hace dependiente de las ciudades
vecinas, tanto para su subsistencia como para su principal fuente de ingresos, el turismo. Esta situación geográfica pone de
relieve su vulnerabilidad en caso de cierres de fronteras, como ocurrió con la pandemia de covid-19 en 2020. Por ser un
territorio muy pequeño, con unos 2500 habitantes, y alejado de los principales centros peruanos de mayor desarrollo, sufre
los impactos de la falta de infraestructura en la calidad de vida de sus habitantes. Este escenario apunta a la necesidad de
una mayor autosuficiencia, incluso para la producción de alimentos. Este escenario apunta a la necesidad de una mayor
autosuficiencia, incluso para la producción de alimentos. Con base en Rosa (2013) y François (1965), se realizaron
encuestas virtuales en el sitio, utilizando programas como Infraworks Autodesk y Google Earth para comprender el área de
estudio, buscando comprender el distrito, su diseño y trazado urbano. Para mejorar las intervenciones propuestas, se
desarrollaron mapas específicos para monitorear áreas inundadas y tráfico de embarcaciones, estudio de tipologías de
construcción y una inmersión cultural utilizando lo que se comparte de la vida cotidiana en Internet. Esto permitió una
comprensión más sensible del espacio de trabajo.

Abstract

Santa Rosa do Yavarí is a small Peruvian island located in the triple Amazonian border that connects Peru to Brazil and
Colombia, through Tabatinga (BRA) and Letícia (COL). The Island suffers from periodic flooding caused by the variation of
the river level that prevents agricultural activity. This makes it dependent on neighboring cities, both for its subsistence and
for its main source of income, tourism. This geographic situation enlights its vulnerability in the event of border closures, as
occurred in the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. As it is a very small territory, with about 2,500 inhabitants, and far from more
developed Peruvian centers, receives the impacts of lack of infrastructure and welfare of it’s citizens the need for greater
self-sufficiency, including for food production. Facing this challenge, appears the necessity to study and seek solutions for
the area, reinterpreting the working tools of urban design, respecting the local culture and taking advantage of its potential.
Virtual surveys were carried out about the island, using softwares such as Autodesk Infraworks and Google Earth to
understand the study area, seeking to understand the district, its design and urban layout. To improve the interventions
proposed, specific maps were developed for monitoring flooded areas and boat traffic, the study of building typologies and a
cultural immersion using what is shared from everyday life on the internet. This made possible a more sensitive
understanding of the work area, leading to the proposal of creating chinampas, an ancient Aztec technology of floating beds
applied in the region of Lake Xoximilco, Mexico. It’s wooded navigable canals would lead to an observatory facing the
commercial center of the city. Thus, agricultural activity and tourism would boost each other, using only local resources.

Palabras Clave: Diseño Urbano; Agua Urbana/Rio; Neglicencía

Key words: Urban Layout; Resiliance; Self-sufficiency; Urban Waters/River.

1. Introduction

A According to the dictionary, inhabiting is understood as occupying, living or populating. This term
is usually associated with the act of building, after all, there has always been a search for shelter,
such as caves, huts, hollows, among others. Thinking about the world in which you want to live is
first of all understanding the world in which you live now, understanding it as people, housing and
geographical space. Thus, this work raises the hypothesis that it is possible to make an analysis
even at a distance with a lack of data from this reinterpretation of urban design tools, which can
help design better and more applicable solutions in small territories vulnerable to extreme climatic
variations.

For the execution of this work, we use a case study that reports the challenges arising from the
frequent floods caused by the variation of water, in Santa Rosa de Yavarí, a district that belongs to
the city of Loreto, Peru. Areas like this, especially those that are distant from the more developed
urban centers, are naturally marginalized, which can impact the collection of data necessary for the
use of the usual urban design tools. In addition, there are specific conditions in that territory when it
is at risk, related to extreme weather events. Hence the importance of a closer look that results in
analysis that is specific to each case and, consequently, more effective.

Thus, the research aims to document the project methodology developed in the discipline of Urban
Design II taught by Prof. Me. André Moraes de Almeida (Centro Universitário Paraíso do Ceará,
Brasil)1. Among the specific objectives are: to review tools for the production of urban diagnosis; to
elaborate specific diagnoses aimed at vulnerable areas, whose collection of traditional urban data is
scarce or inefficient; and, finally, to develop and describe the analysis process of an area framed in
such conditions.

The development of the research was based on the standard structure of the method addressed by
Rosa (2013), focusing on the identification of potentialities; creation of clippings to represent
masses and unbuilt surfaces; identification of areas where social life happens and the description of
the elements found. The analysis and creation of maps, as well as all other datas, where collected
online, following the isolation protocol guidelines in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 2.
The analysis and creation of maps, as well as all other datas, where collected online, following the
isolation protocol guidelines in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

1
Research advisor teacher

2
Infectious disease caused by the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that led to the death of a large portion of the
world population, and measures of home seclusion are necessary, especially in the initial period when there
were no vaccines for the virus.
Because it is a small district and very far from other more developed Peruvian urban centers, there
was some hardships in finding accurate official data about the city. This resulted in difficulty in
searching for accurate official data about the city. According to François (2010):

"Not only new capacities are needed to define projects in a more essential and strategic way, but
also knowledge and tools to integrate the logics of the actors, evaluate their proposals, judge their
adequacy in relation to the objectives and their efficiency for the community, identifying and
evaluating their possible effects [...]."

Therefore, it was necessary a cultural immersion from video records and images of everyday life
shared on social networks by ordinary people, online visits through the Street View tool of Google
Maps, articles and reports of newspapers and television programs, portraying clippings of reality
that, with a close look, contributed to the identification of the problems.

The entire analysis methodology can be summarized in the following points:

1. Survey information on historical, political and cultural context;

2. Creation of diagnosis maps that included specific needs (in this case, Displacement
Map and the Flood Map;
3. Study of typologies;
4. Elaboration of project guidelines
5. Reflections and final considerations.

2. Development

The first step was the online search on official websites and scientific articles on the chosen work
area. The chosen area was the island of Santa Rosa de Yavarí, a district of Yavarí, in the province
of Mariscal Ramón Castilla, that belongs to the department of Loreto, Peru. The capital, Iquitos
(Peru), is located 625 km from the village, which lies on the triple border between Brazil, Colombia
and Peru, the territory of the Ticuna and Yagua people.

Its foundation dates from 1970 by Peruvian citizens, after formation of river beaches. Among the
cultivated crops, sugarcane and rice, adapted to wet and floodable land, stand out. The village has
approximately 2500 inhabitants, distributed in 450 buildings, 57 of them floating, about 12% of the
total.

In the search for the housing census, the inconsistency in the data provided was perceived, making
it necessary to search for new methods, leading to the investigation of less formal materials that
could show an updated picture of Santa Rosa. The readings covered journalistic articles, historian
blogs and tourist reviews detailing the experience of the trip and content posted by the residents of
the village on social networks. This, coupled with the use of the google street view tool, allowed a
critical view while providing a snippet of the daily life reported by those who live there.

2.1 Historical, Political and Cultural Background:

One of the first detected problems highlighted in this research was a certain governamental
negligence, with constant complaints regarding the malfunction of the health and security
departments. Some of the reports obtained through online contact with residents reveal that they
feel totally abandoned by the government, some who feel more Colombian and Brazilian than
Peruvians because they perceive a greater concern from neighboring countries, which further
aggravates dependence and risk when closing the border.

The main source of income is tourism. It is through activities such as cooking, transportation and
crafts for tourists that they maintain their needs. The trips to Tabatinga-AM are constant, for the
purchase of basic supplies. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the border between Brazil, Colombia
and Peru was closed, seriously impacting economic activity, since for most of the population there
is no other means of usual income.

2.2 Analysis of typologies

Reinterpreting the urban morphology presented by Lamas (1993), a summary of typologies found
was made from the virtual researches via Google Earth. Each of them was reproduced by means of
drawings in order to identify the materials and the constructive logic, briefly described below:

 Tents
Reinterpreting the urban morphology presented by Lamas (1993), a summary of typologies
found was made from the virtual researches via Google Earth. Each of them was
reproduced by means of drawings in order to identify the materials and the constructive
logic, briefly described below:

● Restaurants
Its constructive typology differs from those found in the houses of the region. The covering
with straw and the wooden structure, refers a lot to the indigenous architecture that draws
the attention of tourists and at the same time generates an ample indoor space and with
good thermal comfort. They are taller buildings, of high stature to accommodate more
people since gastronomy is one of the greatest attractions for the island.

● Ports:
The ports, built on the bank facing Leticia and Tabatinga, are usually made with wood and
tires. They vary in sizes to provide anchorig from canoes to bigger vessels.

● Mercado Tres Fronteras (main city market):

Main commercial point of Santa Rosa de Yavarí, where residents buy the most needed
products, because when they need to make purchases in greater quantity they go to
Tabatinga-AM, in the same way as market sellers, since the Brazilian neighboring city has a
much larger trade, cheaper products and a currency more devalued than the Peruvian. This
merchandise also comes from Brazil, since the neighboring city has a much larger trade,
cheaper products and a currency more devalued than the Peruvian one.
 ● Floating Houses
Floating houses are a type of nomadic architectural construction, with the construction
system divided into base, house and roof. They are built in wood, on a foundation structure
usually made of tree trunks, installed transversely and longitudinally, so that the structure is
leveled, giving flotation to the house. They oscillate according to the level of the river, and
to keep it in one place, the houses are fixed on large trees.

● Stilts
In the lower areas are the dwellings supported by wooden stakes. It also corresponds to a
poorer area with very low accessibility. When the tide dries, improvised stairs are needed
for access, guardrails often do not exist, reducing the safety of residents.

Figure 1. Drawings exemplifying typologies analysisc

Source: Prepared by the authors

2.3 Locomotion analysis

According to Lamas (1993), it is from the layouts set on the ground that the city is drawn and we
delimit the locomotion flows. In Santa Rosa, the river, in addition to separating the island from
neighboring cities, invades urban space and activities expand to water as well, affecting the ways of
getting around that now include vessels and the morphology of paths, made of concrete, wood and
dirt. When the tide dries, improvised stairs and guardrails that are needed often do not exist,
reducing the safety of residents.

● Concrete paths
It was observed through the satellite images that there is a more central region where
concrete plates and interlocked flooring can be found. One of the reasons for being more
found in the center is the fact that they are higher regions, with a lower risk of flooding. In
other cities we expect to find these types of asphalt-paved roads, but this material does not
behave well in floods even if they are puddles of water, beyond which it is imaginable the
logistical difficulty of taking all the machinery and raw material to the small island.
 ● Wooden walkways
The walkways are made of wood with thin planks used in the longitudinal direction, the
structure is made with planks of low thickness as well and very long, fixed to the ground at
the bottom and forming a trilitic system together with the planks. At some points, there are
larger and heavier bars above the boards that it is still unclear whether they are simply
supported to perform bracing or as spare parts still without function.
Sometimes fixed and sometimes assembled and disassembled in an organic way according
to the time of day and the situation of the water level at the moment. These are found in
regions where a poorer part of the population lives, where houses are small and elevated
on stilts and made with scrap materials.

● Grounding
The most common mean is the dirt path, identifiable by the marked lines where there is no
undergrowth, due to the flow of people that hinders the growth of trampled plants.
Sometimes are added in these simple paths wooden boards on the ground, to facilitate the
passage of Tuk-tuk (a type of motorcycle with three wheels used to transport tourists) and
pedestrians, which are more frequent in wetlands and probably with mud.

● Water
There is a large flow of boats between the island of Santa Rosa and the neighboring border
towns of Tabatinga and Leticia. Analyzing the map, we identify small boats that appear in
the aerial photo, we realize that there is also a flow line in the part that separates the island
of Santa Rosa from Isla Rondiña.

2.4. Mapping

Based on the work of François (2010), it was realized that a holistic and attentive look at details that
tries to understand the routine urban dynamics of that place can help in the analysis. By retracing
the daily lives of people, it became clearer to identify the problems and potentialities available, even
those less reported. Combining this with the method already in process, the creation of specific
maps for that context emerged, in addition to the conventional ones, making the analysis more
efficient even without experiencing the environment.

● Map of Occupied an Empty Spaces

Through the analysis of the areas already occupied, an axial line was perceived where all
trade developed , identified as an area of interrelation of elements (LYNCH-KEVIN, 1960),
and we maintained this line as a project matrix for the continuity of its commercial use.
With this map we can count 450 buildings, 57 of which are floating on the border of the
three countries, driving fuel trade in the region. There is a greater number of houses in the
higher areas of the land, following a central axial line of the island from where other roads
arise.

● Topographic Map
 In the green painted area, the darker the color the higher the point of the terrain is, the axial
line follows that area higher in relation to the water level. From the lowest to the highest
point there is a difference of approximately 50 meters

Because it is a city that arises from an island formation in the Amazon River, resulting from
a drop in water level, many points on the ground are low, with a small difference from the
river's water level, making the island floodable for certain moments.

● Street Network Map

The main central street, located in the highest area of the island and less affected by
flooding, concentrates most of the shopping spots, restaurants, health posts and other
shopping spots.

Other roads follow from it, leading to more residential areas, but much more floodable and
with a worse infrastructure, with elevated houses at a greater distance from the ground.
Some other houses are closer to the river, staying above the water for a few moments of
the year. The dirt roads do not follow an exact plan, but rather the layout of the houses.

● Displacements
The trips take place on foot, by small boats and or on tuk-tuk style motorcycles. The strong
connection of the island with the neighboring border cities is evident, due to the
identification of the vessels. There is also a smaller flow line in the part that separates the
island of Santa Rosa from Isla Rondiña, suggesting activities on site.

 Flood Map
Due to the peculiarity of the work area, it was necessary to elaborate a map that showed
the variation of the water level in a way to verify which areas were submerged, in addition to
mapping the separation between Santa Rosa and Isla Rondiña.
As there were no precise topographic data or the availability to go to the field, the
elaboration of the map was made by these images, identifying the levels of full and low tide
and outlining over the image.

For a few moments as in June 2015, the island is totally flooded, and the water level of the
Amazon river rises even in the highest areas of the island. While in 2022 there was a
drastic decrease of submerse soil.
Figure 1. Map of Occupied and Empty Spaces

Source: Prepared by the authors

Figure 2. Topographic Map

Source: Prepared by the authors

Figure 3. Street Network Map

Source: Prepared by the authors

 Figure 4. Displacement Map

Source: Prepared by the authors

Figure 5. Flood Map

Source: Prepared by the authors

2.4 Conclusions

The analysis of materials that go beyond the conventional data used for urban design makes
possible a more assertive understanding of the workspace, especially when it has been subjected
to drastic climatic events combined with lack of infrastructure that are not found in the urban centers
that are usually studied in the academy.
As the research itself demonstrates, it is indeed possible to study the selected area despite the
impossibility of field visits and with inaccuracy in the official data. The combination of historical data
with "everyday life" content publicated by citizens resulted in the understanding of the cultural
context, while the study of morphologies with their mapping revealed essential information for the
analysis. Among them, the location of the tourist route, the most vulnerable population and
availability and access to basic services.

This type of analysis opens space for the perception of very caracterisc details of each location,
making it possible for proposals with a better perception of the needs of that area. In this case, it
would be adaptability to the local culture, valuing the experience of the residents themselves and
who preach for self-sustainability.

For example, a possible intervention would be the implementation of chinampas. This ancient Aztec
technology allowed the ancient city of Tenochtitlán, Mexico, to expand, increasing food production
and housing capacity, with the manufacture of new land within Lake Texcoco using vernacular
techniques. At the same time it opens space for agriculture since, for Santa Rosa, it would mean
another tourist attraction. This would be a solution that respects the cultural context of the island,
taking advantage of the source of income already executed while bringing more independence in
relation to trade and subsistence. In addition, it is an intervention that has an executable
maintenance with local resources.

Acknowledgements: If this paper is the result of a funded project, it is advisable to include this
information in this section.

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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