Brazilian urbanization in the 20th century was characterized by rapid demographic growth. One of the primary consequences of this growth was accelerated urban expansion in the country, marked by intense land occupation in the urban peripheries and low density developments and discontinuities of the urban fabric of cities. Such a pattern of expansion raises concerns regarding its social and environmental consequences. Given this context, the general purpose of this dissertation is to discuss the impacts of urban expansion in Brazil on the local environmentparticularly regarding land consumption for urban development-and to identify the role of local policies in managing this urban expansion. More specifically, this dissertation discusses the following questions: how divergent has the spatial urban expansion in Brazilian cities been compared to what has been observed in other developing and developed countries? What are the factors that explain the differences? What has been the contribution of each socioeconomic group (low-, medium-, and high-income classes) to the expansion of the built-up areas in Brazilian cities? How have public policies affected urban expansion, and what are the lessons that can be learned from international experiences? To answer these questions, this dissertation first presents an overview of the dynamics, causes, and consequences of urban expansion in developing and developed countries, based on a review of literature. This is next followed by a review of land use regulations for managing spatial urban expansion in a select country: the United States. The focus of this more detailed review is to evaluate the effectiveness of policies and regulations in managing the spatial urban expansion adopted in this country, frequently referred to as "smart growth policies". Next, we develop an overview for future urbanization in Brazil, focusing on the factors that have shaped patterns of urban expansion in the country-namely, peripherization and informal settlements, the role of housing policies, and land use regulation. Finally, we employ basic statistics and cluster analyses to discuss the socioeconomic factors of the urban expansion that occurred between 1975 and 2014 in the city of Campinas (state of Sao Paulo, Brazil). We conclude that built-up area per capita in Brazil does not differ extensively from other cities in developing countries, but it is below the high-income countries. Among the factors that explain the differences are income, available area for development, presence of informal settlements, land use regulations and housing policies. In Campinas, our study case, despite the advancement of gated communities targeting high-income families, most of the growth of the built-up area of this city in the last four decades has been due to the expansion of low-income housing.