SUSTAINABILITY AS A CONDITION FOR BUILDING URBAN EQUITY BASED ON THE BAURU/SP RAILWAY LEGACY

Abstract

This article proposes that sustainability, in addition to its environmental dimension, constitutes a fundamental paradigm and an inseparable condition for the full realization of social rights and the construction of sustainable urban equity. Through an interdisciplinary theoretical approach that articulates critical urban theory, political economy of space and studies on environmental justice, the work analyzes the city of Bauru-SP as a microcosm of the contradictions and potentialities of Brazilian development. The focus is on the city's railway legacy, understood not as a mere historical relic, but as a strategic asset for sustainable socio-spatial reconversion. It argues that the technological revitalization of this infrastructure, integrated with redistributive public policies —such as the Sistema Único de Movilidad (SUM) and the Tarifa Cero— is a catalyst for overcoming socio-spatial inequalities, the democratization of access to the city and the realization of social rights such as transport, housing and an ecologically balanced environment. It can be concluded that sustainability, despite being a sectoral dimension, emerges as the organizing principle of a new urban compact, in which technical progress, collective memory and social justice combine to build truly inclusive and humanized cities.