Modernizing the Brazilian City

Abstract

Cities of Brazil manifest distinctive patterns of urban primacy and spatial structure. Historical-geographical analysis of Brazilian urbanization reveals consistent social and morphological characteristics. Portuguese founded early colonial towns primarily as coastal ports; later, mining led to development of inland centers. Though less regular in form than Spanish settlements, Brazilian colonial centers followed coherent spatial principles. modern metropolis emerged as planners remodeled the central district, developed urban infrastructure, and encouraged speculative building. Brazilian city continues to show a greater concern for centrality than is generally true in the United States, but urban dispersal now proceeds in historically specific ways. RAPID urbanization in Brazil, as elsewhere in Latin America, has exacerbated social problems and intensified spatial contrasts in the city. Some three decades ago, Carolina Maria de Jesus (1962, 35) offered this description of Sao Paulo: The Governor's Palace is the living room. mayor's office is the dining room and the city is the garden. And the favela [shantytown] is the back yard where they throw the garbage. At that time, metropolitan Sao Paulo had a population of less than five million people. Currently, the figure is in excess of seventeen million, which ranks the area among the world's largest megacities. skyline of the city is a showcase of the postwar Brazilian miracle (Fig. 1). After World War II, the economy of Brazil shifted from an agricultural to an industrial emphasis, and the proportion of urban dwellers rose from less than one-third of the total population in 1940 to approximately three-quarters in 1990 (IBGE various years). rapidly changing profile of S5o Paulo, aptly called three cities in one century (Toledo 1983), reflects the historical urban-industrial transition of Brazilian society. Preexisting spatial patterns affect the rate and the direction of historical changes in urban morphology. As James E. Vance Jr. (1990, 24) observes, physical traits of the city tend to persist, once established, and no city ever absolutely denies its past. Yet as functions change, urban form is adapted to new uses. In Brazil, the colonial city did not abruptly end with national independence in 1822. A characteristically colonial urban morphology persisted intact until demographic growth and socioeconomic change prompted * Research was partially funded by a Mellon grant for non-Western studies from the International Studies Program, Vassar College. I am grateful to Joao Carlos Attarian, Jurandyr F. Miguez, Antonio Pereira, Gino Pina, and Antonio Aparecido de Souza for their assistance during fieldwork. * DR. GODFREY is an assistant professor of geography at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.159 on Sun, 23 Oct 2016 05:09:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms