Sao Paulo peri-urban dynamics: some social causes and environmental consequences

Haroldo Torres, CEBRAP
Humberto Alves, CEBRAP
Maria Aparecida Oliveira, CEBRAP

There has been great expectation that the decline in São Paulo rate of growth would positively impact this metropolis, reducing the need for public investment and its environmental disruptions. However, such expectation is misguided. Although the growth rate has declined, such an impact has not happened: while the centre of the city is losing population, the peri-urban areas are growing fast (6% per year in the 90s). Consequently, the region still demands strong public investments in infrastructure, followed by considerable environmental impacts. The objective of this paper is to first understand why this intra-urban dynamic is happening. We intend to show that the city is losing population exactly in the same places where real state investments are growing more significantly. Secondly, we intend to explore the environmental consequences of this pattern of urban sprawl - such as the occupation of environmentally protected areas - presenting data on forest coverage reduction.