Índices de sustentabilidade municipal: o desafio de mensurar

This article presents methodology for the construction of indices of local sustainability, applied to the cities of the Piracicaba River Basin (Minas Gerais). The proposed methodology combines measures of quality of the microregional environmental system; the quality of life in urban areas; the pressure exerted by anthropic activities on reproduction bases in the area and on the microregional environmental system; political and institutional capacity for local intervention. The river and its water basin are used as the main parameters for spatialization, integration and compatibility of indicators constructed on the basis of distinct methodology and disciplinary viewpoints. Located in the mid Rio Doce river basin, the Piracicaba River basin is within the area of influence of the Rio Doce State Park. It comprises a significant assembly of economic activities (steel, cellulose, and iron ore mining) with a high degree of anthropic impact, considerable urban concentration, and massive reforestations through the monocultural plantation of eucalyptus trees (coal and cellulose).