SOCIO-SPATIAL IMPACTS OF INFRAESTRUCTURE MEGAPROJECTS IN BRAZILIAN METROPOLES [IMPACTOS SOCIOESPACIAIS DE GRANDES PROJETOS URBANOS DE INFRAESTRUTURA NAS METRÓPOLES BRASILEIRAS]

Abstract

Cities have been increasingly planned and built by private agents, rather than by the State. Scholars understand this as a process often called “market-oriented” urban planning. However, the issue of market-oriented production of infrastructure megaprojects in Brazil has not been fully addressed yet. This paper aims such an issue by proceeding with a well-established method to understand the socio-spatial impacts of Guarulhos International Airport, in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area. This method was specifically designed to study megaprojects within the Brazilian urban space regulatory framework. Throughout two broad dimensions, Spatial and Management, we investigate the occurrence of ruptures in urban dynamics and morphology that may have been caused by private management of the airport. Our findings suggest that both spatial ruptures and management ruptures occurred following the private administration of the airport complex in 2012. Our discussions focus on the hypothesis that market-oriented megaprojects aggravate the issue of splintering urbanism, especially when supermodern infrastructure built by global companies contrasts against chronically unequal urban landscape. This leads to the conclusion that the lack of Federal urbanistic regulation for the private market to design and manage infrastructure megaprojects is the main cause of these ruptures.

Keywords: Megaprojects, infrastructure, airports, Brazilian metropolises, São Paulo.

Research line: 2: City and Project

Topic: Metropolitan and territorial studies