Patrimônio imobiliário público: uso e ocupação dos imóveis pertencentes à união, ao estado e ao município em Natal/RN

Abstract

In the city of Natal, RN, there are around 7.283 parcels of land and buildings that constitute the "Public Real Estate Assets" owned by the Federal Government, the State, and the Municipality. Within the urban space, these properties are of great importance, primarily intended to house public equipment and services. Their significance expands as these properties serve various purposes, including being vacant, leased, used for private purposes, or even placed on the market for sale. It is within this context that the present research aims to analyze the usage and occupancy characteristics of public real estate situated in the city of Natal, owned by the three levels of government (Union, State, and Municipality). The goal is to understand the diverse purposes of these properties and how they are distributed within the urban space. To achieve this objective, the research employed a methodological approach that included gathering data through the Access to Information Act, document research, fieldwork, and interviews with technical teams from various governmental levels. From this initial phase of quantifying public properties in the city and analyzing how these assets are managed, databases were created. These include the type of property, its use, occupancy situation, location, size, and, when available, the market value of the property. After organizing the data, thematic maps were developed to provide valuable information about the distribution of public real estate within the city's structure. These maps enable the analysis of the state's multifaceted role as a landowner, property owner, user, provider and tenant. The research results highlight the challenges faced in managing public properties and point to five main situations experienced by the public sector concerning its ownership: i) Use of public properties to provide services and infrastructure, playing a role in the provision of urban resources and consequently influencing the appreciation or depreciation of land use; ii) Occupation of public properties by third parties, raising aspects of private use of public assets that may or may not generate patrimonial revenue; iii) The presence of unoccupied or underutilized public properties, which may incite speculative or degrading phenomena in these areas; iv) The sale of public properties, releasing areas to the real estate market; v) The leasing of private properties by the public sector, a common practice at all three levels of government, related to the challenge of managing and maintaining the stock of public properties. These findings underscore the complexity of managing public property assets. Although the research was conducted with an empirical focus on a specific city, it provides important insights for improving strategies for the use of public real estate in urban contexts more broadly.