CHALLENGES FOR LOCAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS IN URBAN DENSITIES IN THE FOOTHILLS OF SERRA DA CANTAREIRA, BRAZIL

Abstract

The Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP) is a large urban network comprised of 39 municipalities with an estimated population of 18.3 million people, being the fourth largest urban cluster in the world, state, with an estimated population of 11 million. In the northern part of the city, Serra da Cantareira possesses one of the largest urban tropical forests in the world, provides important environmental services and is under pressure to expand the urban network towards its forests, becoming the scene of conflicts between various social actors. The present work materializes a research based on the study of these socio-environmental conflicts aiming at the understanding of the historical process, vectors of pressure, social actors and negative environmental impacts. The conclusion reached is that the policies practiced by some administrations aimed at the isolation of the low income people in the peripheries associated with the lack of planning in the occupation of the territory resulted in an arena of conflicts that lack the articulation of the State and society, as well as a systemic approach to its solution.