São Paulo, Brazil's MEGACITY: Largest City in the Americas
1,242,353
Published 2018-09-13
Video by Bryce Plank
Script help:
Kiriana Cowansage
Leonardo Cardozo
Drone footage courtesy of:
• SAMPA - São Paulo vista por cima
• Sao Paulo 4k - Brazil Drone Video
Information sources:
books.openedition.org/iup/1364?lang=en
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_S%C3%A3o_Paulo
gestaourbana.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/wp-content/uploa…
www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/25/sao-paulo-b…
• Sao Paulo
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/07/04…
• Building a Better Favela
• Video
• Housing for a favela: Parque Santo Am...
• Video
www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/28/sao-paulo-w…
The dramatic cliffs and endless beaches of Rio De Janeiro makes it the city that probably first comes to mind when you think of Brazil. But São Paulo, the largest metropolis in the southern hemisphere, is the true economic engine of the world’s sixth most-populous country.
In 1554, Catholic missionaries - with the help of indigenous workers - built a small village perched 750 meters above sea level and 70 kilometers from the Atlantic coast. It was the only inland settlement in the country, a jumping off point for expeditions of conquerors, traders, and gold hunters.
In the 1800’s, Brazil became the world’s leading coffee producer, but the farmers in Rio over-cultivated their soil, giving São Paulo an opening to become the country’s agricultural hub. As one of the few inland towns, it was closer than Rio to the plantations spread throughout the interior, and it was directly linked by rail to the port of Santos, making it the ideal junction for shipments of goods on their way to the coast for export.
In 1888, Brazil’s businesses adapted to another significant change when Emperor Dom Pedro II - regarded by many as the greatest Brazilian to ever live - convinced his people to abolish slavery. With their captive labor force suddenly free, farmers and industrialists turned to immigrants from abroad. Today, as a result, São Paulo has the largest population of Italian descendants of any city on the planet, including Rome; the largest Japanese community outside of Japan; and - of course - significant numbers of Portuguese and Spanish.
Many of these newcomers were skilled factory workers whose knowledge helped São Paulo emerge as a manufacturing capital during the industrial revolution and WWII.
Over a period of less than 30 years, the city’s population exploded from 250,000 to 1 million. Steady growth continued through the century, passing Rio in 1960, and hitting 8.5 million in 1980.
Today, the population of the megalopolis known as “Sampa” is over 20 million. In many ways it is a thriving global city with the largest stock exchange in Latin America; a vibrant culture with over 100 museums and dynamic performing arts spaces and beautiful parks. As part of futbol-crazed Brazil, it proudly hosted matches during the 2014 World Cup; and is making significant investments in the next generation, with 850,000 students enrolled in higher education courses.
Unfortunately though, São Paulo’s rapid development has also taken a heavy toll, with four core problems rising above the rest.
The city’s only major bodies of water are the Tiete and Pinheiros rivers. As the population grew, the government - plagued by inefficiency and corruption - struggled to meet demand for basic infrastructure. Without enough wastewater treatment plants, sewage from millions of people flowed directly into the rivers. Toxic waste from industrial facilities was dumped without limit. When new highways were built, the city laid them on the only continuous stretches of land left, the riverbanks, and then hid stretches of them behind walls. But even if you can’t always see the rivers, their stench doesn’t go away.
When the Tiete is at it most-choked, it is a biologically deadzone as far as Barra Bonita, 260 km downstream.
It wasn’t always this way. The rivers used to be gathering points for recreation--distant memories that are motivating current rehabilitation efforts, which include projects to treat 100% of all wastewater before it enters the Tiete, putting an end to all dumping, and teaching people how to care for their rivers and streams.
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All Comments (20)
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Sou Português e desejo o maior sucesso ao Brasil, que seja uma grande potência no futuro!
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I love Brazil, I am from South Korea 🇰🇷. It's a beautiful country... É nois brasileiros 🇰🇷♥️🇧🇷
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I’m from India but my father worked in Sao Paulo for 18 years and I visited multiple times a year even living there for a bit. I absolutely love the city and country. Hope to return some day♥️
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greetings from russia 🇷🇺, im learning portuguese, I hope one day i'll be on brazil 🇧🇷
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Exploring São Paulo, Brasil: The largest metropolis in the southern and western hemispheres is the economic engine of the world’s sixth most-populous country.
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Wow São Paulo looks absolutely gorgeous. A very big megacity. Will definitely put this on my bucket list.
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Que bonito es Brazil saludos de mexico
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Soy mexicana y amo Brasil y los brasileños😍 espero poder ir algún día a su país🇧🇷🇲🇽❤️
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São Paulo is more interesting than I ever thought!
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Parabéns da Argentina! Vocês têm um pais maravilhoso! Se não fosse pelos seus políticos....
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São Paulo is what a cyberpunk novel would looks like in real life.
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Conheci São Paulo e me apaixonei pela cidade. Multicultural, pulsante e frenética. A cidade pode ser acinzentada, mais há muita cor e amor nas pessoas. Uma cidade digna de ir e voltar muitas vezes <3
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God, i live in São Paulo and not ever seen a video so good about São Paulo in portuguese, thanks
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Sou português e amo o Brasil e os seu povo. Espero um dia ir descobrir esse país fantástico. Beijos de Toronto ON
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Love to Brazil from 🇺🇸
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Good video, but I would like to point out that Marcelo Odebrecht is not a politician, but a businessman caught in corruption with the government, and that It was not Dom Pedro II who abolished slavery, but his daughter, Princesa Isabel. Even tough Dom Pedro II was against slavery, and freed his personal slaves, he did not act on that, mainly because his main suporters were slave owners. One year after slavery was abolished, Dom Pedro II lost his kingdom and Brazil turned into a republic.
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My favorite country, people, beaches + music in the world. So happy I discovered it. A native New Yorker I now have an apartment in the heady city (original capital) of Brazil. RE São Paulo it is really a 24 hour city, unlike New York which is less so then in past years.
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Uma das poucas descrições imparciais do Brasil, em especial São Paulo, feito por gringos. Parabéns!!!
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I love this city. I’ve been to many cities all over the world but São Paulo is unique ❤️
