As crescentes pressão e confluência da população humana nas zonas costeiras acarretam um processo contínuo e cada vez mais frequente de artificialização de áreas anteriormente naturais. Tal processo, quando associado a um planejamento e ordenamento deficiente ou ausente, ocasiona problemas como a degradação de ecossistemas e a saturação de infraestruturas urbanas. Nesse sentido, seu diagnóstico e sua análise se tornam indispensáveis para estabelecer áreas prioritárias para iniciativas de gestão costeira. A artificialização territorial surge como um dos resultados da concentração humana na costa e é entendida como a antropização dos espaços naturais. O grau de artificialização é, portanto, um indicador da influência do homem na transformação dos espaços naturais a artificiais. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo determinar o grau de artificialização das praias Brava de Itajaí (Santa Catarina, Brasil) e Brava de Punta del Este (Maldonado, Uruguai) e estabelecer relação entre este e o estágio de desenvolvimento no qual se encontram, a fim de subvencionar informação de caráter técnico para os processos de tomada de decisão. Para tal, imagens do satélite QuickBird para as praias mencionadas, georreferenciadas e disponíveis online como mapa base do software ArcGis® 10, foram adquiridas e tratadas, sobre as quais mapas de uso e cobertura do solo e de grau de artificialização foram elaborados. Dentro do grau de artificialização, as classes natural, médio e alto foram discriminadas, com valores de 41,8%, 41,7% e 16,5% para a praia brasileira, e 43,6%, 44,8% e 11,6% para a praia uruguaia. Os dados obtidos, cruzados com a revisão bibliográfica, demonstraram que as praias se classificam em estágio intermediário (Itajaí) e principal (Punta del Este) de desenvolvimento, ainda que possuam valores similares de artificialização. Como indicadores dos estágios, destaca-se que, para a primeira praia, algumas das maiores manchas de uso e cobertura são aquelas referentes a áreas de construção, enquanto que, para a segunda, essas manchas são alusivas às residências multifamiliares. Diferentes dinâmicas no histórico de ocupação e no desenvolvimento atual são, portanto, percebidas. Ademais, conclui-se que ambas as praias apresentam uma maior percentagem de cobertura do solo referente à soma de médio e alto graus de artificialização frente a espaços naturais, demonstrando uma antropização do espaço costeiro, que vem associada ao desenvolvimento do “turismo de sol e praia”.

The growing pressure and confluence of the human population on the coastal zones induce a continuous and increasingly process of artificialization in previously natural areas. The artificialization, when associated with a deficient or absent littoral planning, causes problems as ecosystems degradation and urban infrastructures saturation. In this sense, the diagnostic and analysis of the artificialization degree become imminent to establish priority areas for coastal management initiatives. The territorial artificialization arises as one of the results of the human concentration on the coast and it is understood as an anthropization of natural areas, being the anthropization the process of transformation that the human exert over that environment. Therefore, the artificialization degree is an indicator of the human influence in the transformation of natural spaces into artificial ones. The present work aims to determine the artificialization degree of the Brava beach of Itajaí (Santa Catarina, Brazil) and the Brava beach of Punta del Este (Maldonado, Uruguay), and establish a relationship between the degree of artificialization and the development stage referred to each one of those, to subsidize technical information for the decision making processes. Both beaches are important touristic destinations, localized at two proeminent South American centers, in the civil construction market as well as the real state speculation. To this end, Quickbird satellite images of both mentioned beaches, in a 1:2000 scale, georeferenced and available as a basemap in the software ArcGis® 10, were obtained and treated, above which it land use and cover, and artificialization maps were elaborated for a 300m coastal strip. The land use and cover were determined according to the methodological approach of the EEA (2000), which establishes 6 main groups: natural space; semi natural space; residential areas; infrastructure, equipments and commercial areas; mines, dumps sites and, construction areas; and agricultural and forestry areas, subdivided in 44 classes. In the other hand, the artificialization degree was calculated (qualitatively) with the application of the Delphi model, which obtains the consensus of a group of specialists that, in this case, responded to a series of questionnaires related to this investigation field in Lacasa (2009). This group selected growing values (0 as natural, 4 as high) for different classes of artificialization, according to the types of land use and cover. Also, a bibliographical research together with an empirical knowledge of both zones were important to the analysis, especially to the establishment of the development stages for each case of study. This establishment was based on a classification developed by Horn Filho (2006). For the artificialization degree, the natural, medium and high artificialization classes were discriminated, with values of 41,8%, 41,7% and 16,5% for the Brazilian beach; and 43,6%, 44,8% and 11,6%, for the Uruguayan beach. It was concluded that both beaches presented a higher percentage of medium and high degrees of artificialization compared to the natural degree, demonstrating an anthropization of the coastal area, that is associated with the sun and beach tourism development. Especially when considering that the natural space class is intrinsically related with the sand strip, possibly preserved because of the limitation caused by the former construction of the coastal avenue. The obtained data, intersected with bibliographical research, demonstrated that the studied beaches are classified as intermediate (Itajaí) and main (Punta del Este) stages, although presented similar values of artificialization. As stages’ indicators, it is worth to stand out that, in the first beach, the intensification of its urban development is relatively new and one of the biggest use and occupation spots are those referred to the construction areas while, for the second, these spots are allusive to multifamily residences. Different dynamics in the occupation historial and in the actual development are, therefore, observed, making the intersection of the artificialization and the development stages analysis, a recommendable process. . The maps are an important tool to make easier the comprehension of the data in both cases of study, being a useful way to lead the information for the population and the decision makers.