Raquel Rolnik Criticizes São Paulo's Master Plan Revision as a 'Performance'

The second vote on the revision of São Paulo's Strategic Master Plan (PDE), scheduled for June 23 at the Municipal Chamber, was postponed to June 26. Urbanist Raquel Rolnik, a professor at the University of São Paulo's Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, argues the public discussion process was a 'performance' as 70% of the substitute bill's content originated from the Brazilian Association of Real Estate Developers (ABRAINC). She states the real decision-making about the city's future occurs outside the public sphere, with many councilors not having read the lengthy, complex project. The 2014 plan, which aimed to concentrate population around transport corridors, led to distortions like expensive micro-apartments and increased parking, contrary to its social housing intent. The new version expands construction areas from 600 meters to 1,000 kilometers and removes verticalization limits in neighborhood cores. It also allows developers to execute works themselves instead of paying fees to the Urban Development Fund (FUNDURB), removing public oversight. Rolnik links this to a democratic crisis, where city destiny is defined by land profitability for investors, not population needs, exacerbating real estate speculation with many units bought by investment funds and left vacant.