(introductory text...)

Milton Santos

The metropolitan region of São Paulo is a giant agglomeration consisting of 39 municipalities which together contain some 17 million people (figure 10.1). It is an economic powerhouse which contributes around 30 per cent of Brazil's gross national product. São Paulo's 2.1 million manufacturing workers make it the second largest industrial city in the world. They represent around one third of the active population, a much higher proportion than that in any other large Brazilian city.¹

Since the introduction of the motor car, urban expansion in São Paulo has followed a radial model. The radius of the built-up area did not exceed one kilometre until 1870; today, continuous urban development spreads 80 kilometres from east to west and 40 kilometres from north to south. Since 1980, the built-up area has been growing far more rapidly than the population (table 10.1). The city's land-use pattern has been strongly influenced by land speculation, which since the end of the last century, has ensured that the built-up area has expanded, leaving large areas of undeveloped space. This process has increased the price of serviced land and has helped accentuate social segregation.

Figure 10.1 Metropolitan region of São Paulo: Administrative divisions

Table 10.1 Growth of metropolitan São Paulo

	Population	Growth rate	Urban area	Growth rate
Year	(million)	(annual %)	(km²)	(annual %)
1930	1.0	-	130	-
1950	3.0	5.6	420	6.0
1965	6.5	5.3	550	1.8
1980	12.5	4.5	900	3.3
1987	14.2	1.8	1,523	7.8
1991	15.2	1.8	n.a.	n.a.
1994	16.0	1.8	n.a.	n.a.

Source: Santos, 1990.