The municipality of São João da Barra, located in the north of the state of Rio de Janeiro, received in 2007 the Açu Port Logistic Complex, located in the 5th municipal district, in Barra do Açu. The arrival of the enterprise brought about considerable changes not only for the municipality itself, but for the entire North Fluminense region. The objective of this dissertation is, in the first article, to make a bibliographical review of the urban-territorial structuring history of the municipality of São João da Barra and to analyze the socio-environmental impacts caused by the implantation of the Açu Port. Considering the poly nucleated territorial organization, it is based on the premise that the insertion of the Port segregated the municipalities, since these specificities were not considered in the elaboration of the Master Plan. Consequently, the following article addresses the environmental perception of the residents of Barra do Açu, in relation to the direct and indirect impacts caused by the insertion of the port, and the urban infrastructure conditions that the public power provides to the locality; presenting its urgencies. The results showed that the implantation of the Port increased the territorial fragmentation, causing that the urban nuclei in Area of Direct Influence grew even more that in its post-implantation; creating a commercial axis that connects them, and forming an agglomeration in the southern part of the municipality. This reinforced the thesis that this area is more linked to the neighboring municipality Campos dos Goytacazes, than to the Headquarters District of São João da Barra. Finally, the environmental perception that the population of Barra do Açu has about itself is clear, however it is focused on the most urgent problem, giving greater importance to the lack of basic services and infrastructure that affect them daily.

Keywords: Urban Planning. Environmental Perception. Açu Port. Socio-environmental impacts.
Sustainable development.