Sao Paulo favella revitalisation

Sao Paulo is a monster of a city. It's as if someone decided to see how many roads and buildings can be continuously built from the city centre as far as the eye can see in every direction with no particular rhyme or reason. The population in the greater area is around 20 million, or just under the population of Australia in one city, which is kind of mind boggling. 


Prior to November last year the only fact I knew about Sao Paulo was that Nick Cave had lived there in 1994 and as a fan the period had produced one of my favourite pics showing a side of Nick rarely seen, enjoying water sports, as opposed to this more typically stylised photo from this period. My knowledge exponentially increased last year however when colleagues and I presented to the City of Sao Paulo Department of Housing on the work we'd been undertaking for the City of Melbourne.

City of Sao Paulo chaperones

During our meeting the Sao Paulo Secretary for Housing opened his presentation by saying that each day the Secretary for Environment should pray daily to the Secretary for Housing for the success of their favella rehousing program. The reason for this is the city has grown to such an extent that not only has much of the remnant vegetation disappeared, but housing is now built on the banks of their two major water catchment, and as I witnessed, not only does it serve as the sewer system, but also as the local tip which includes all types of domestic materials and the odd stolen car, which has contaminated and threatened the water supply of the city.


I'd kept in contact with the City of Sao Paulo and arranged to visit one of their favella revitalisation programs. Meeting in the city centre I was met by four officers of the City who'd arranged a car to take me to Cantinho do Ceu on the far southern edge of the city. Cantinho do Ceu is a favella on the banks of one the cities two major water catchments.

Cantinho do Ceu soccer pitch

After a long journey through dense traffic, nine lanes banked up either way at one stage, we arrived at Cantinho do Ceu where the City of Sao Paulo had arranged for me to tour the favella redevelopment project and meet the community leader.  Gingerly taking out my camera gear I spent the next hour or so touring the redevelopment. 


A key strategy of the redevelopment was to turn the area adjacent to the water catchment into a park with a walking and cycling track, soccer pitches, common amphitheatre where movies are shown and recycling bins. It was clearly evident that the park had been embraced by the community and a comment that sticks in my mind is that before the redevelopment the community members weren't even aware that there was such an activity as walking in a park and the pleasures associated with it.

Cantinho do Ceu community plantings

The success of the project had unexcited side effects where people are now attracted to unimproved favella's on the knowledge the City of Sao Paulo is planning to undertake redevelopment over the coming years, thereby exasperating the issues in terms of impacts on the water catchment in the short term.



Following the visit we slowly made our way back to the centre of the city where the City had arranged interviews with three officials involved in the project, including the City of Sao Paulo Secretary for Housing.  At the end of the day I was exhausted and overwhelmed by how much the City had organised for me over the course of the day.

Existing and soon to be revitalised favella across the lake