The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to opportunities and livelihoods of socially vulnerable groups in São Paulo

• Grant number: 24/05779-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Urban and Regional Planning - Methods and Techniques of Urban and Regional Planning
• Acordo de Cooperação: Trans-Atlantic Platform for the Social Sciences and Humanities
• Principal Investigator: Sandra Irene Momm Schult
• Grantee: Beatriz Milz
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/07554-8 - Impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods, mobility, and accessibility of marginalised groups (ICOLMA), AP.R

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has made more evident structural social and spatial inequalities in numerous places in the Global South, including in Brazilian cities, as in the case of São Paulo. In this city, COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and mortality have followed well-defined socio-spatial distribution patterns. Above-average rates have been registered in dense peripheral areas characterised by high shares of non-White people, people living in poverty, informal settlements, and low levels of access to basic services (including piped water and sanitation).The pandemic has also adversely affected the livelihoods of the urban poor through its impacts on transport, mobility, and accessibility. Combined with social isolation and distancing measures announced after the pandemic outbreak, restrictions on mobility (e.g. frequency reduction and cancellation of public transport services, car traffic prohibition at certain times of the day) have hampered physical access to activity sites such as workplaces, education sites, and healthcare facilities. Traditional forms of service provision were replaced by electronic, distance-based service delivery, modifying people's routines, activity spaces and possibilities to earn their living, do shopping, educate and stay healthy.The pandemic has particularly threatened the livelihoods of socially vulnerable groups as, in comparison to well-off groups, they tend to be less able to mobilise resources to gain physical access to the places they need to be. Low-income population groups are more dependent on public transport for longer trips and less likely to replace public transport with motorised modes (e.g. private cars, ride-hailing services). They may face more difficulties to undertake and benefit from distance-based activities (e.g. online learning). Recent studies have suggested that the learning outcomes of children from low-income households who attend public schools have been significantly lower than the outcomes of their wealthier counterparts.Dwellers of low-income neighbourhoods in Global South cities face several types of barriers to access important sites of activity, and such issues lay beyond the simple factors of location and distance: travelling to activity sites also involve concerns about discomfort, unreliability, personal security (especially for women), and physical access (in the case of physically impaired people). However, it is still unknown how the pandemic context interplayed with these barriers, affecting accessibility to essential activities. This research aims to extend and deepen the understanding of how the COVID-19 context has affected the activity spaces of marginalised groups in the city of São Paulo and how they have negotiated access to activities regarded as crucial for their well-being. The study is expected to generate context-relevant policy recommendations at the interface between urban and regional planning, transport policy and service provision to enhance access to opportunities by marginalised groups