{"id":173224,"date":"2015-02-28T14:37:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T17:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=173224"},"modified":"2015-11-25T13:02:32","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T15:02:32","slug":"rearrangements-in-the-metropolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/rearrangements-in-the-metropolis\/","title":{"rendered":"Rearrangements in the Metropolis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>In downtown S\u00e3o Paulo, a building occupied by the homeless (at rear<\/em>), close to a Metro stop, is reflected on the windows of a recently-renovated building: the city has changed less than anticipated and in a different wayL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Something has happened in the 21st<\/sup> century to the patterns of residential segregation in Metropolitan S\u00e3o Paulo that was not anticipated at the end of the last century. Residents of the metropolis are still highly segregated, but the pattern has not followed the expected trend toward polarization of spaces and social structure. While the areas inhabited by the elites have become more exclusive than ever, the rest of the city has undergone a change that has made it more heterogeneous. \u201cThe hypothesis of social polarization, expressed in famous metaphors such as \u2018a divided city,\u2019 is still alive, but did not prove true in S\u00e3o Paulo, says Eduardo Marques, a professor in the Political Science Department at the USP School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences (FFLCH-USP) and researcher at the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM), one of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDC) supported by FAPESP. \u201cThe dynamics of the social structure did in fact point to the occupational polarization of the 1990s, but that trend was completely reversed in the decade of the 2000s. Compared with forecasts, the metropolis has changed less, and in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The picture painted by the research confirms a diagnosis that emerged during the 1990s and associated the major urban trends with transformations that have taken place in capitalism since the 1970s, such as the formation of a social group of the super-rich and the creation of protected compounds that would become home to the captains of business. However, the effects of the de-industrialization that began during the period\u2014said to be the curtailment of intermediate activities in the scale of production, in particular the Ford model of industrial mass production\u2014were not fully confirmed by the study of the changes that occurred in S\u00e3o Paulo in the last few decades.<\/p>\n

The presence of industry has diminished in relative terms in favor of retail trade and services\u2014a sector that generated 800,000 jobs during the 2000s in Greater S\u00e3o Paulo\u2014but not because of the dwindling of industrial activity, as in other countries, but rather because factories have decamped to other regions, such as the macro-metropolises of Campinas and S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos. Furthermore, the effect of continued Ford-style mass production has been that its workers (skilled manual labor) have achieved the status as the most numerous social class in the metropolis according to the 2000 Census, although \u201cin a decline associated with the growth of the professional class and the middle strata.\u201d The impact on the map of social segregation is important: the classes that have grown proportionately the fastest tended to disperse during the first decade of this century, while those that declined in number (the wealthiest class) increased their exclusivity.<\/p>\n

Marques arrived at these conclusions through a study that used census data from 1991, 2000, and 2011. An article on the subject, entitled \u201cSocial structure and segregation in S\u00e3o Paulo: Transformations during the decade of the 2000s,\u201d<\/i><\/em> was published in December 2014 in the journal Dados<\/i><\/em> by the Institute of Social and Political Studies (Iesp) at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) and will make up of the chapters of a forthcoming book S\u00e3o Paulo 2010: Espa\u00e7os, heterogeneidades e desigualdades na metr\u00f3pole<\/i> <\/em>(S\u00e3o Paulo 2010: Spaces, Heterogeneities and Inequalities in the Metropolis), scheduled to be released by Editora Unesp in May 2015.<\/p>\n

With respect to the distribution of housing in the metropolis, the study detects both a pattern of social avoidance confirmed by the index of dissimilarity and the Moran\u2019s I Index value (measures of residential segregation) and a proportional distribution of classes in the metropolitan region. \u201cIt\u2019s not simply a group that isolates itself, although the elites really are the most segregated groups; rather it is a characteristic of the very structure of segregation,\u201d says Marques. \u201cThe data suggest, rather eloquently, that the greater the social distance between classes, the greater the degree of segregation, suggesting a pattern of avoidance in the residential choices made by groups who can pay higher prices for the land.\u201d This conclusion is consistent with anthropological and sociological studies that deal with subjects such as the use of public spaces in cities, gated communities, and the rise of shopping centers.<\/p>\n

\"Houses

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Houses in Parais\u00f3polis, with buildings in Morumbi in the background: enclaves of manual workers in the territory of the eliteL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Besides being very intense, segregation is also strongly hierarchical, as evidenced by the data measured by the index of dissimilarity. \u201cThe degree of differentiation is arranged perfectly by class,\u201d says Marques. That progression causes the dissimilarity to be minor between any one group and its contiguous groups, but much greater for groups that are distant from them in the structure. Another significant deduction found in a chapter by Danilo Fran\u00e7a in the upcoming book is that segregation is not only socioeconomic, but also ethnic-racial, the latter superimposed on the former, in much the same way as when one considers social classes and skin color simultaneously, a combined hierarchy appears.<\/p>\n

This is an apparently paradoxical phenomenon, and one of the factors behind the increasing heterogenization of the outskirts of the city that has already been studied in literature as \u201cphysical proximity and social distance.\u201d It is what occurred, for example, as a consequence of the increased popularity, in peripheral zones, of gated communities\u2014which were themselves already heterogeneous because they served the people in the variable income strata found between those at the top and those in the middle class. In Greater S\u00e3o Paulo, this phenomenon had a tremendous impact on peripheral areas such as the municipalities of Barueri, Cotia, and Santana de Parna\u00edba.<\/p>\n

On the scale of dissimilarity indices, spatial distributions of the middle class more closely resemble those of the lower classes, thus reinforcing the finding of a mixed fabric in Greater S\u00e3o Paulo, except for the intense segregation of the classes at the top of the structure. In the overall comparison, the elites exhibit the highest indices of segregation and the middle classes exhibit the lowest.<\/p>\n

That is evidence of the limitations of the social polarization hypothesis: the local effects of global processes are not always the same. \u201cIn Brazil, after the restructuring of the 1990s, the current century has brought the return of employment, growth in the formal labor force, and the improvement of wages,\u201d says Marques. \u201cThat, added to changes in the patterns of demographic growth and the government\u2019s investment in infrastructure, accompanied by a better distribution of construction activity, contributed to the heterogenization of the periphery.\u201d The researcher observes that the period he studied predated the launching of the federal program My House, My Life that has produced approximately 130,000 housing units in Metropolitan S\u00e3o Paulo since 2009.<\/p>\n

As a statistical parameter, Marques used the EGP (Erikson, Goldthorpe and Portocarrero) classification, adapted to circumstances in Brazil. This is a method of grouping occupational categories in order to observe \u201cmilder, more continuous and durable\u201d fluctuations than those based solely on education or income, for example. Another advantage of the EGP classification is that it provides common ground for international discussions. One of the activities of the CEM is carried out by a group that does comparative research on international patterns of public policies and governance in S\u00e3o Paulo, Paris, London, Mexico City, and Milan. Officially, the CEM has principal offices at two sites: one at FFLCH-USP and the other at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Cebrap).<\/p>\n

\"In

L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>In the foreground, the skeleton of a building in Vila Leopoldina in the west zone of S\u00e3o Paulo. In the background, new buildings that rose during the real estate boom of the early years of this centuryL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Using that classification, what the author classifies as mixed middle\/low class spaces, characteristic of the heterogeneity observed in the peripheral regions are, on average, home to 71.6% of the population belonging to the classes of manual laborers (both skilled and unskilled), low-level manual laborers performing routine tasks, plus technical and supervisory personnel. Relative incomes in those areas fall between middle and low. This population featured a high percentage (40%) of blacks and browns (pretos<\/i><\/em> and pardos<\/i><\/em>) who lived predominately in houses (only 9% lived in apartments). Infrastructure conditions were close to the average for the metropolis (sometimes even better, depending on the indicator).<\/p>\n

In the geographical configuration of Greater S\u00e3o Paulo as revealed by the 2010 census, the mixed-middle-low class spaces are situated in the peripheral regions, \u201calthough with spatial discontinuities and a substantial presence of mixed-middle class spaces, especially in the eastern zone (Zona Leste<\/i><\/em>) of the city of S\u00e3o Paulo.\u201d The historical center of the city presents itself as a space that is predominately mixed-middle class, which demonstrates how the region has changed since the 2000 census due to an influx of lower-income people. The spot on the map of the expanded city center that is occupied by the elite is situated southwest of the historical downtown\u2014it includes such neighborhoods as Higien\u00f3polis, Pinheiros, Jardins, and Morumbi. Between 2000 and 2010, that area came to include regions located in the direction of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s industrial area known as the \u201cABC,\u201d owing to the expansion of Morumbi and Vila Leopoldina, areas that have experienced a construction boom in the new century.<\/p>\n

That southwestern region, however, contains two enclaves of manual laborers situated in the midst of the territory of the elite. They are the only two large slums (favelas<\/i><\/em>) located within the limits of the expanded center\u2014namely, Parais\u00f3polis to the west and the Heli\u00f3polis-S\u00e3o J\u00f3\u00e3o Cl\u00edmaco complex to the southeast. In a sharply contrasting development, the regions of Tatuap\u00e9 and Santana are now also occupied by the elite. Both are rather small and lie to the east and north of the territory where the elite are concentrated. And the centers of Guarulhos and Mogi das Cruzes, to the northeast and east, respectively, are now home to the upper middle class. There has been an influx of lower classes in areas not far from downtown Guarulhos.<\/p>\n

Marques\u2019s study is part of a more comprehensive and more lengthy research project under way at the CEM. The book scheduled to come out in May 2015 complements S\u00e3o Paulo: Segrega\u00e7\u00e3o, pobreza, e desigualdade<\/i><\/em> (S\u00e3o Paulo: Segregation, Poverty, and Inequality), edited by Marques and economist Haroldo Torres and published in 2005 by Senac. Based on 2000 census data, that volume, like the future one, consists of coordinated chapters on subjects like population growth, segregation, and access to public policies. Additional material has now been included to discuss aspects associated with the labor market, race, and urban mobility.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong>
\nCEM \u2013 Center for Metropolitan Studies (No 13-07616-7<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/b><\/strong>: Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDC); Principal Investigator:<\/b><\/strong> Marta Arretche USP School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences (FFLCH-USP); Investment:<\/b><\/strong> R$7,124,108.20 (for the entire project) (FAPESP).<\/p>\n

Scientific Article<\/em>
\nMARQUES, E. Estrutura social e segrega\u00e7\u00e3o em S\u00e3o Paulo: transforma\u00e7\u00f5es na d\u00e9cada de 2000<\/a>. DADOS-Revista de Ci\u00eancias Sociais<\/strong>. V. 57, No. 3, pp. 675-710. 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Communities on the Greater S\u00e3o Paulo have become more heterogeneous","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[261],"coauthors":[137],"class_list":["post-173224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humanities","tag-sociology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173224"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=173224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}