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The purpose of this work is the analysis of spatio-temporal variation in land use and land cover of an estuary area in north-central coast of the state of Santa Catarina, reconstructing the changes in landscape dynamics in a 75-year period (1938 to 2013), and calculate the variations of the index of land use and land cover (IUO) and vegetation cover index (ICV). For digital classification of cover and land use a visual classification was done in a GIS environment. The results indicated that in the 30's, 50's and 70's occurred the greatest transformations in the study area, being that the variation of IUO pointed a growth of disturbed areas and the ICV showed a reduction in vegetated areas. Studies of this nature are important tools for decision-making of municipal managers in search of a more harmonious growth of cities, aligning the needs of residents for housing and utilities with natural remnants, which have equal importance for the quality of life.