Urban Problems & Solutions - So Paulo

Introduction:
1. The Brazilian Government has made attempts to overcome
the problems associated with the rapid urban growth of So
Paulo.
2. The citys rapid urban growth, now a megacity of over 22
million people, has occurred because of inward migration
from the countryside for work and of the high birth rates.
3. This urban growth has caused two major problems, the
growth of favelas and traffic congestion.

Growth of Favelas:
1. So Paulo has been unable to meet the housing demands of
the rising population and this has resulted in the development
of over 16,000 shantytowns where 20% of the population
live.
2. While certain favelas, such as Cingapura and Monte Azul,
have been supplied with basic water and electricity services,
the Brazilian government has yet to only deal with a
fraction of the favela communities in So Paulo.
3. It is difficult for the authorities to provide services, such as
sewerage, waste, electricity and water, to many favela
settlements because of their inaccessible geographical
location.
4. Favelas are often forcibly moved by wealthy landowners,
resulting in favelas developing on such difficult locations as
hill slopes, areas prone to flooding and landfill sites.
5. As the favela communities have grown, favela removal by
the authorities has given way to favela upgrade and during
President Lulas term in office, 2002-2010, huge
advancements have been made in this regard.
6. The city council of So Paulo has also initiated self-help
schemes to improve favela conditions by providing
community centres, brick-built housing, school buildings
and public sanitation services.

7. So Paulos largest favela, Paraisopolis, with 60,000

inhabitants is one region where the majority of houses are
now brick-built, but there is still no waste system in place.

Traffic Congestion:
1. The Brazilian authorities have had to take numerous steps in
overcoming the problem of traffic congestion in So Paulo
as the region has more than 6 million cars as well as trucks
and delivery vans, and without any ring roads, all traffic has
to go through the city.
2. The Mario Covas Beltway is a 177km ring road currently
being built around the city of So Paulo in Brazil in order to
minimise this congestion in the city centre.
3. Traffic flows are interrupted for an average of four hours a
day and one on particular occasion on May 9th 2008, 266km
of traffic was at a standstill on So Paulos streets.
4. Similar to the programme in Singapore, the Brazilian
authorities implemented a rota system, the Rodizio,
prohibiting drivers from using their cars one day a week.
5. Transport in So Paulo is overwhelmingly road based,
accounting for 97% of travel compared with 2.2% air and
less than 1% rail.
6. In order to combat this, the So Paulo metro system has been
upgraded from three to five lines and now has 64 stations,
increasing daily ridership to 299,000.
7. Another traffic management project in So Paulo involves the
private implementation trunkline bus corridors in order
to increase bus transport efficiency and usage, thus getting
cars of the roads.