Neighborhood Law under the Publication of Urban Law the Prior Neighborhood Impact Study in mega events and the democratic management of cities

Abstract

This paper aims to study the transformation of Neighborhood Law, from a reading related to Private Law and to the notion of neighborhood as the relation of normal use of property between owners, to an urbanist view linked to the public interest. Its specific objectives are: i) to theoretically point out the juridical transformation of the concept of neighborhood under the context of this publicization of Urban Law and the constitutionalization of Private Law; ii) to understand the instrument of the Prior Neighborhood Impact Study as a broadening of social participation and the notion of neighborhood for Urban Law; iii) to identify the phenomenon of recent mega events in Brazil as a challenge for this new neighborhood paradigm. Results: i) there is a paradigm shift in the Neighborhood Law, surpassing the interpretation and purely private application of its institutes; ii) the instrument of the Prior Neighborhood Impact Study emerges as one of the forms of enlightenment and social participation, as it submits urban enterprises to a technical vision that reveals to society the impacts of a work, allowing popular discussion and assistance to the public administration in granting licenses and setting compensation; iii) in large public and private infrastructure works, social participation is reduced to mere consultation, without the effective political power to direct the management of cities.