O Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida ainda em descompasso com o “direito à cidade”: um estudo no Parque dos Búfalos da cidade de São Paulo
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article aims to analyze the Minha Casa Minha Vida (My House My Life) Program to understand the direction its current approach to affordable housing is heading in Brazil. It is well known that criticisms have spread that the PMCMV was created for, and also by, the construction and real estate sector, interests that can be reflected in city planning policy. The study is guided by the values of the “right to the city,” a term that aims for an “ideal city” against exclusion and social inequality. But what kind of consequences caused by the construction and real estate sector can directly impact an affordable housing program, to the point of becoming a (public) problem for its beneficiaries and the city? To answer this question, methodologically, we chose to conduct a “case study” to closely monitor the implementation of its housing projects. Thus, the researcher focused on the development called Condomínio Residencial Espanha, located in the Jardim Apurá neighborhood, in the south of São Paulo. The research is based on social science literature, reports from the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office, 380 interviews with residents and beneficiaries of the Program, and empirical research that portrays the experience with the Condominium and the region between 2017 and 2023. The conclusion reached is that the case of the Espanha Residential Condominium is a concrete example that the Program’s real estate development still runs counter to the logic of the “right to the city,” as it specifically generated significant environmental and local demand imbalances. The conclusion is that the interviewees’ feelings support the recognition that the Program’s Espanha Residential Condominium was a potential source of local public problems, and consequently, for the municipality of São Paulo.
Author: Diego Borges Cordeiro
Institution: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4416853789