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Fernando Haddad tells New Cities summit that economic growth, funding and shifting demographics will bring major change
Long notorious for slums and drug dens, São Paulo has the opportunity to solve its housing problems by 2020, according to the mayor of Brazil's biggest city.
Fernando Haddad, a former education minister who won election last year, said considerable improvements have already been made in the city and more would come, despite Brazil's slow economic growth of late.
São Paulo's favela slums are glaring symbols of its lingering poverty and inequality, problems that persist despite the dynamic commerce of a city that accounts for 12% of Brazil's GDP.
According to Haddad, however, there is now a major opportunity to upgrade them thanks to economic growth, central government funding and demographic changes.
"The combination of these three variables can produce a solution to the housing problem in São Paulo," he said. "I think it can be done within the decade."
To achieve this, he said the city must work hard to improve existing slum neighbourhoods and to prevent further expansion of the favelas.
Haddad said he aimed to tap into the government's massive housing programme – Meu Casa, Meu Vida – for funds. He has previously said he wants to triple federal support for São Paulo and has also proposed levying a petrol tax to raise additional finance for his social programmes.
The city's main development plan – the Arco do Futuro – would provide mixed public and private housing across a swathe of 6,000 hectares spanning both sides of the Tiete river.
It includes the 40-hectare (98.8-acre) area around Luz, which is notorious for drug users and known as "Cracolândia". Efforts to develop this area have previously sparked protests, but Haddad said he had changed the strategy to include greater public participation.
"The previous economic model was very private-sector orientated, so the reaction of the local community was very negative. We need to rebalance the equation so development is not seen as a threat," he said. "People consider politicians as bad people so it is important to get them involved personally. If they feel a sense of ownership then they don't complain."
Whether a cynical public will believe in the promise of a solution to one of São Paulo's most pressing problems remains to be seen, but if improvements can be made in this city they could be replicated elsewhere.
The interview took place during the New Cities summit, which opened on Tuesday at the Auditório Ibirapuera, one of São Paulo's most surreal buildings, bringing together about 700 mayors, businessmen and women, entrepreneurs and community activists from cities worldwide.
The organisers chose São Paulo because it faces many of the challenges confronting conurbations across the developing world. Brazil's first megacity, São Paulo now vies with Mexico City as Latin America's biggest metropolis.
The primary aim of the conference is to share best practice in dealing with these problems. Participants heard about the creation of an auto-rickshaw association in Gujarat that has grown exponentially – from 15 to 10,000 drivers in four years – and now provides improved training, insurance and fare pricing in four cities. Similarly impressive were an e-health project in Rio de Janeiro based around the use of high-tech mobile diagnosis backpacks that enable doctors and nurses to provide care to elderly and disabled residents living in favela hillside communities, and a mobile phone application that provides real-time parking information, enabling drivers to avoid wasting time and fuel looking for a space.
In the future, Haddad predicted, urban cities will become more influential. "Cities are increasingly present in global debates," he said. "São Paulo is in the centre of that discussion."
The conference heard that more than half the world's population already live in cities. A million people are being added each week as a result of rapid urbanisation in China, India and the Middle East. By 2060, the proportion of city dwellers in the world is set to rise to 60%.
Latin America is ahead of the curve as the most urbanised continent in the world. In Brazil, 87% of the population live in cities. The biggest is São Paulo, which faces major challenges of traffic, pollution, crime, waste and rising property prices as a result of a growing middle class.
"We need more just cities. Not just playgrounds for the wealthy, but cities where all people can thrive," said John Rossant, of the New Cities Foundation, which organised the event.
"This is a global summit to look at problems facing cities in the 21st century, but also opportunities. There are lots of interesting solutions. Cities are 10 times cleaner than they were 20 years ago. We are learning how to deal with waste."