Idealizing Brazilian cities: Their master plans from 1960 through 2015

This article discusses the Brazilian city through the perspective of its written idealisation, both in the format of Master Plans and their resulting legislations. The analysis reflects ideas expressed by local society, legislators and urban planners, recognizing that a myriad of intermediate agents play specific roles and confirming the main features in the way the city is understood. The discussion is based on a selection of 26 Master Plans for the ten largest cities in Brazil between 1960 and 2015. This timeframe reveals distinct phases constructed with different priorities and ways of idealising Brazilian cities and, by extension, those on the Latin American continent. The study suggests an increase in legal complexity, expansion of municipal responsibilities and the maintenance of physical-territorial priorities as the main instruments of urban management. Many of the themes observed in the selected Plans also indicate an overlapping symbiosis between the comprehensive Master Plans themselves and the laws for urban land use they encompass. The impressive expansion of responsibilities adopted by local governments, as well as holistic aspirations, has made achievement of the ideal city more difficult than ever. Efforts to democratise urban land access and appropriate use have gained importance in the composition of the ideal city; however, the access of the low-income population to proper land and basic infrastructure and services still relies on controversial and structural changes. Analysis of the desired city – here considered as the idealised city – during the selected period reveals a strategic absence of emergent features and points to both optimistic and pessimistic approaches.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.06.021
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275118302695
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/02642751
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Ultramari, Clovis
  • de Oliveira da Silva, Roberto C E
  • Meister, Gisela
  • 0000-0002-1067-4231
• Publication Date: 2018-12-31

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 186-192
• Serial:
  • Cities
  • Volume: 83
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0264-2751
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02642751

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: City planning; Equity; Land use; Large cities; Legislation; Master plans
• Geographic Terms: Brazil
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01679196
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 2018 2:05PM