Chasing the city that cannot stop: Exploring transportation and urban co-development in São Paulo’s history

The authors present a historical analysis of transportation and urban development in São Paulo (Brazil), attempting to discern Granger causal effects using historical land-use and transportation data from 1881 to 2013. The results align with the hypothesis commonly stated in the literature about the relevance of road transportation in São Paulo’s peripheral urban expansion during the twentieth century. They find, however, more complex relationships, and changes in them, over time. Over the entire 130 years, the authors find that urban expansion and road development pushed and pulled each other, in a somewhat “orderly” way. On the other hand, while roads are not linked to densification, they find that mass transit infrastructure did lead to building densification. Distinguishing among distinct periods adds further insights. Examining São Paulo’s “streetcar era” they find joint development of streetcar lines and urban expansion – evidence of joint development consistent with “streetcar suburbs.” Streetcars also led to building densification during this early period. In subsequent decades, up until the mid-1970s, mass transit investments are virtually non-existent and road transportation essentially chases urban expansion, not vice versa. Finally, the last four decades reveal a return to “orderly” patterns of road expansion and urbanization but no evidence of mass transit infrastructure’s effects on urbanization or densification. The analysis illustrates how transportation investment choices have important consequences for urban growth, exerting long-lasting influences on its urban form.

• Record URL:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2021.1969
• Record URL:
  https://www.jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu/article/view/1969
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/19387849
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2021 Adriano Borges Costa et al.
• Authors:
  • Borges Costa, Adriano
  • Zegras, Christopher
  • Biderman, Ciro
• Publication Date: 2021

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1075-1098
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transport and Land Use
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue Number: `1
  • Publisher: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
  • ISSN: 1938-7849
  • Serial URL: https://www.jtlu.org/index.php/jtlu
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: History; Land use; Transportation planning; Urban development
• Geographic Terms: Sao Paulo (Brazil)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01786462
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 28 2021 9:14AM