BEYOND SLUM UPGRADING: Rental Densification as a Pattern for Urban Greening in São Paulo

Latin American urbanism is shaped by informal densification processes called self-help, self-building, or autoconstruction. It is also influenced by urban redevelopment or “slum upgrading” of which there have been three primary approaches. The first type of upgrading involved progressively interweaving infrastructure into settlements where residents had built their own homes via self-building. A second form of upgrading, focused on environmental sustainability, designed linear parks into existing settlements. Finally, the third approach is individual properties are densified with rental units built and managed by the informal sector - an unintended consequence of prior upgrading phases. Examining the case of São Paulo, Brazil, this chapter explores these sociospatial models and provides insights into how rental densification can contribute to environmentally sustainable upgrading.