The gentrification process and the High President João Goulart (Minhocão)

• Grant number: 17/14577-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2017
• End date: September 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Guilherme Rivera de Castro
• Grantee: Rafaella da Silva Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM). Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project aims to understand the processes of gentrification in the contemporary world, taking as an empirical reference the transformations that occur in areas near the High President João Goulart - o Minhocão. The research intends to understand and contribute to the debate on the urban decisions regarding the future of the Minhocão and the region that it crosses. For this will be carried out a bibliographical review and documentary research, as well as empirical research with data collection in the field. The research project introduces a number of distinct perspectives on what comes to be the term and the process of gentrification, drawing mainly on the descriptions and views advocated by Neil Smith - a significant figure when it comes to the term gentrification. For Smith, the phenomenon of gentrification is linked to an urban renewal, to an urban restructuring, to a process of transformation present in the geographic space constituted by the city; Is a process that touches society in its economic, physical, social, cultural, political and geographical aspects, consisting of a phenomenon that represents the return of capital and social segments of greater purchasing power, to a certain area of the city, favoring the Of this locality, contributing to the replacement of former residents. In this way, the research takes as a starting point of analysis of this process, the area of the High President João Goulart that has undergone numerous modifications since its implantation in the decade of 1970, until the present day, causing a great process of physical degradation of the urban space Adjacent to its installation, initially having an exodus of middle / upper class residents, giving space for the installation of an economically disadvantaged population. From the 2000s onwards - more specifically the year 2006 - the area undergoes major transformations, among them the return of the middle class to the surrounding dwellings - having to live with the population already resident - and the elaboration of a contest of ideas - Prestes Maia Prize - to generate new proposals and new visions for the area in question, during the administration of the Mayor José Serra (PSDB). Since then - and with the new formulation of the Master Plan of the city of São Paulo in the year 2014 -, fomentations were generated on the future of Minhocão; Dismantle or park? This questioning goes through a period of great debate in the city, both through the residents, and all those people interested in issues in the urban space. (AU)