Project for downtown SP is inspired by NY and other cities

05/04/2013 | 8h50

By Amanda Previdelli

 

São Paulo - The Sé region in downtown São Paulo accounts for 20% of the jobs in the state’s capital, but only has 3% of its residents. After business hours the center becomes empty and dangerous, according to Mayor Fernando Haddad, who presented the Casa Paulista Project with Governor Geraldo Alckmin today.

 

This is another project amongst others attempting to revitalize the downtown area - although Haddad ensures that it does not compete with previous plans, because Casa Paulista is based on a “mix”. The mix is due not only to the partnerships between state government and municipality, and the cooperation between the private and public sectors, but also because of the idea of making the center of São Paulo more heterogeneous.

 

According to Philip Yang, founder of the Urbem Institute, which developed the Casa Paulista Project, the urban plan avoids the mistakes of the two previous models used in São Paulo: the popular housing “BNH” and the “medieval” walled condominiums.

 

“We want a mix and coexistence of different social strata in an area with the necessary transport infrastructure and the spatial organization of cities we like to visit, like New York, with wide sidewalks, shops, services and buildings right on the sidewalk,” said Philip Yang. Other cities mentioned were Barcelona and Copenhagen.

 

The project aims to construct 20,000 housing units to “bring housing closer to the workplace,” according to the Mayor.

 

The apartments subsidized by the government and private sector are primarily intended for families who work in the downtown area and live in other regions. Families who do not have their own houses also have priority in the distribution. The private sector will be responsible for commercializing the property and registering families.

 

The unique aspect of this project is the way in which the housing units will be distributed: 62% of the property will be destined to families that earn up to four times the minimum wage, that is, between R$ 755 to R$ 4000. The other 38% will be distributed to families that earn less than R$11,000.
 

The financial benefits will be from R$ 320 to R$ 1,000, depending on family income.
 

The new housing units will also have retail and services, mostly on the ground floor. Green areas are also considered in the plan, as well as urban remodeling, such as the widening of sidewalks and the construction of building walkways.

 

Public Private Partnership

The Casa Paulista project has a budget of R$ 7.9 billion, with R$ 4.6 billion from private investment through a concession contract of 20 years.

Governor Geraldo Alckmin affirmed he was optimistic about the partnership: “I am a fan of PPPs: We are bringing the agility and expertise of the private sector and integrating them with the City Hall,” he said.

 

The exact location of the sites was not disclosed because the decree was not yet published. The state will execute the expropriations for the remodeling plan, but financial studies will be conducted by the companies.

 

The announcement will be published in June, according to the state government, and the goal is to contract all operations by October.

 

See the official government document:

Presentation Housing PPP