Territorial Exclusion and Violence: The Case of Sao Paulo, Brazil

This paper opens with the recognition of extreme dual landscapes of Brazilian cities and an outline of the research design utilised for this study. Its overall aim is to understand how patterns of economic development and population trends have contributed to the generation of risky urbanisation and how planning and urban management policies interact with this defining dynamic of Brazilian cities. It explains the term ‘territorial exclusion’ and explores the nexus between risky urbanisation and the urban violence that seems to be the most recent and most visible face of this model, using the concrete example of different cities in the state of Sao Paulo.

A history of Sao Paulo’s urban growth is given in the following section, as are the methods used to map territorial exclusion in the state. The links between urban legislation and informal land markets in industrial and tourist cities are explored and reasons for failure identified. The authors then examine agro-industrial cities where high quality living conditions exist but where “precarious peripheries” are “contained”. Using a series of tables revealing land prices, the level of adequate household situation, and city comparisons of levels of territorial exclusion and homicide rates, they argue that violence is strongly linked to poverty, and to territorial exclusion. The paper concludes by contrasting research findings and arguing for more inclusive urban policies so that greater sustainability is achieved by way of a more equitable urban model. A bibliography and End Notes section follow, and the Appendix has 13 maps, illustrating state activity on all levels: administrative organisation, migration patterns and income brackets.