This thesis aims to investigate the role of urban planning tools in promoting economic activities in the city of São Paulo. Based on a review of urban plans and state and municipal zoning laws proposed for the city from the mid-twentieth century to the present, as well as on a research on the territoriality of commercial, service and industrial use in the urban space, we identified four types of strategies undertaken by the State, through urban planning tools, to guide the location of economic activities in the city. First, restricting economic uses to preserve other urban functions, such as high income residential use and environmentally sensitive areas; second, guaranteeing land reserves, through zoning, in order to maintain or attract manufacturing plants; third, defining strategic public investments, whether in infrastructure or specific projects, in master plans; and, fourth, using fiscal and urban incentives to draw new commercial, services, and manufacturing firms to areas with fewer employment opportunities. The thesis presents a comprehensive and critical assessment of strategies chosen (or, sometimes, only proposed), supported by specific case studies, and reflects on the context and constraints of creating and applying these tools and their actual (or potential) impact on the location of economic activities. Thus, we seek to contribute to the debate on the history, scope and limits of urban planning tools in São Paulo.
Manufacturing in metropolitan areas has been drastically transformed. This case study of São Paulo, Brazil contributes new insights to debates about urban economies by shedding light on micro-urban manufacturing – an activity that, despite its pervasiveness, is usually left out of planning theory and discourses. First, I broadly frame this debate by retracing the relationship between economic activity and urban development in the historical making of São Paulo. Second, I analyze micro-manufacturing as a segment within the broader context of manufacturing, highlighting its relevance, ubiquity, and resilience. Next, I examine micro-manufacturing activities by themselves and point out at their heterogeneity. Finally, I describe the emergence of two unique geographies of micro-urban manufacturing in the city.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.