State intervention in the territory: a case study from the public sanitation policy of the municipality of São Paulo

• Grant number: 24/22651-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Project
• Principal Investigator: Luciana de Oliveira Royer
• Grantee: Anna Carolina de Paula Madrid de Marco
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Despite the long history of the sanitation agenda in the state of São Paulo and, more specifically, in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, the city of São Paulo still has significant deficiencies in water provision and sanitation policies, which are hidden by the municipal, state and national averages. The institutional legacies of the sector and the policy instruments applied by the São Paulo City Hall and the São Paulo State Government demonstrate the practice of 'governing by contract' and its possible consequences for the reproduction of territorial inequalities. Since 2010, the targets for water and sanitation provision in the municipality of São Paulo have been agreed not only in the form of a Municipal Plan, but also in the form of a contractual mechanism signed between the municipality and the state government. Despite this, in 2023 the returns and results perceived by ordinary citizens, especially those living in the city's 'informal' areas, are questionable.In view of the controversial implementation of the Federal Law 14.026/2020, and the prospect of privatising Sabesp and consequently reviewing the contractual agreements in force, it is important for this research to investigate the state's tradition of intervention in water and sanitation policies of the municipality of São Paulo and its limits. The diagnosis of the successive shifts in municipal priorities, the decisions taken publicly in the related collegiate bodies, as well as the speeches of the actors involved in implementing the policies point out to the invisibilization of the territorial deficit. In continuity, the investments executed will be interpreted, with emphasis on some specific programmes - subject to the remaining limitations in tracing the location of public spending - and the mechanisms of accountability will be investigated, with the aim of questioning whether the city's dependence on the contract with the state government may not be contributing to the reproduction of territorial inequality in access to water supply and sanitation infrastructures in São Paulo.