O espaço rural de Porto Alegre (RS) descrito por meio das percepções de moradores da região metropolitana

The countryside of Porto Alegre is a particular space, because of its preservation, unusual for a metropolis in Brazil, and its environmental wealth. However, it is a disputed space, because those responsible for land speculation and the farmers understand it as a place with potential for different and incompatible uses. Thus, assuming that different human practices in occupied spaces have their origins in perception, this study aimed to identify and describe the perceptions of different groups of people over the countryside of Porto Alegre considering this clash that pervades the countryside and the need of biodiversity conservation. This different groups are residents in the metropolitan area ofPorto Alegre among them arethe respondents were goers of the Jose Bonifacio Ecological Fair, tourists who visited this countryside and people who moving to this space became "new countrysiders". Data collection was based on ethnographic techniques and analysis of data of Discourse Analysis. The results point who countryside of Porto Alegre was described as "agroecological place"; "isolated"; "quality"; "contradictions"; and "freedom". Those perceptions of the countryside to Porto Alegre are shaped by distinct life histories and contexts of rural and/or urban experiences in which urban residents are inserted.