Urban Reclamation in São Paulo

Abstract

The urbanized terrain of São Paulo is characterized by wasteful landscapes on peripheral areas of the metropolitan agglomeration, and decaying landscapes of waste in the core of the city. If on the one hand, the increasingly vacant core of São Paulo is fully equipped with infrastructure, on the other, the burgeoning periphery sprawls onto non-structured lands. Within the core of the city, the São Paulo lowlands stand out as a potential regional site to address this major incongruence. This thesis proposes to study the modernization of a landscape, from an undesired floodplain into a crucial component for the functioning of the metropolis. I examine the lowlands as a constructed landscape, and argue that the infrastructural nature of the territory creates a platform for continued reclamation. By identifying the themes and narrative of the area, I then explore the lowlands as a site for contemporary urban planning in order to re-frame the city's current questions regarding its future.