Measuring Changes in Residential Segregation in São Paulo in the 2000s

Abstract

Residential segregation is known as one of the most prevalent problems of Latin American and Brazilian cities. This chapter looks into the changes in segregation levels in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo between 2000 and 2010. This period was marked by economic growth and decreasing social inequalities in Brazil with consequent improvement to the quality of life of lower income classes. Despite those improvements, general patterns of urban segregation in Brazilian cities showed remarkable stability, albeit with important changes in the details of segregation patterns. This chapter explores the spatial relationship between socio-occupational groups using global and local segregation indices. The analysis confirmed a highly segregated distribution of social groups in the Metropolitan Region and revealed increased levels of segregation, with global indices figures for 2010 higher than for 2000. Analysis demonstrated that peripheral areas of the Metropolitan Region became more fragmented and heterogeneous in that period, and revealed that their increased heterogeneity is mainly composed of classes with close social proximity, rather than polarised ones. Results showed that while middle classes became more integrated amongst themselves and with lower classes, the separation between lower and upper classes was not only maintained but also increased during the period. All these findings suggest a reconfiguration of the concentric pattern of segregation that maintained a spatial structure of strong social isolation during the period, although with greater complexity.

The Impact of the National Housing Program on Residential Segregation in Costa Rica

“…These studies used similar spatial scales to promote comparability of results. A more recent series of studies confirmed increasing segregation trends in the already highly segregated São Paulo (Feitosa et al 2021) and in Lima (Fernández-de-Córdova et al 2021), found a decrease of segregation because of greater educational attainment combined with little residential mobility in Mexico City (Monkkonen, Giottonini, and Comandon 2021), and reported persistently high segregation levels (despite sustained economic growth and recovery after the 2001 crisis) in Buenos Aires (Molinatti 2021).…”

Geografía y segregación socioespacial urbana. Una mirada desde Iberoamérica

“…Da primeira geração de medidas, cabe destacar o pioneirismo e influência contínua até os dias atuais. Essa influência se dá, tanto na condução de análises baseadas nos índices originais (Feitosa et al, 2021;Marques, 2014;Telles, 1992;Torres, 2004, entre outros), quanto no desenvolvimento e uso de medidas da segunda e terceira gerações construídas a partir dos índices pioneiros Feitosa et al, 2007;Lisboa, 2022;S. Lisboa & Feitosa, 2018;Netto et al, 2015Netto et al, , 2018 A emergência dos índices da primeira geração, que atendiam às necessidades de estudos de segregação motivados pelo efervescente movimento dos direitos civis dos negros nos Estados Unidos, buscavam comparar níveis de segregação racial entre cidades ou regiões.…”

Towards a new paradigm for segregation measurement in an age of big data

“…This new and complex spatial distribution pattern of segregation is described as a "patchwork" that rich and poor intersperse in urban and suburban areas (Florida & Adler, 2018). In some cities in other countries, high-class groups concentrated in the well-serviced city centre, whereas lower-class groups concentrated in remote poor-serviced areas (Feitosa et al, 2021;Korsu & Wenglenski, 2010;Östh et al, 2018;Shen & Xiao, 2020). Studies in Latin America have observed changes in the macro-segregation structure as a consequence of neoliberalism, economic transformation and globalisation (Thibert & Osorio, 2014).…”

“…The suburbanisation of wealthy classes has resulted in the emergence of small communities of wealth, such as gated communities (Feitosa et al, 2021). As a result, cities are becoming more fragmented and manifest mosaic at the micro-scale (Brown & Chung, 2006).…”