Sao Paulo: Land Policies and Urban Instruments Developed in the Period 2013–2016

About Sao Paulo, the second largest city in Latin America with more than twelve million people, the chapter discusses the strategy implemented by the 2013-2016 administration in the city of Sao Paulo to orient the city towards social urbanism. The city placed the land issue in the center of the formulation and implementation of its urban policy, with clear guidelines for social and environmental re-balancing through the replacement of the existing model. A new urban agenda was achieved in Sao Paulo and the robust and dynamic participation of society in the construction of the new regulatory framework and urban plans was fundamental, along with the strengthening of technical urban planning institutions. A set of urban policies, such as land use regulation, programs, local projects and integrated plans and actions, was developed and directed the city on the way to the promotion of social-territorial inclusion. The incremental advances in recent urban public policies in Sao Paulo, including the effective implementations of the urban instruments capable of guaranteeing the social function of the city, are now recognized as paradigmatic in the country, demonstrating that it is possible to advance towards the desirable promotion of social urbanism despite enormous difficulties.