'Urban Pull Factors' (why people move to the city):-
Hope of better paid jobs in industry - 3 times that of farmers
Excepectation of higher quality of life and housing
Better services - Education, medical facilities and entertainment
Improved food sources
Push and pull factors are what affects the migration of people from the country into the city. While the push factors are real enough, the pull factors do not always turn out as expected as many new arrivals do not have much money and are forced to build a shelter on the outskirts using waste materials.
Attributes of Sao Paulo
CBD (Central Business District) :
Positioned centrally, it is the most active zone. It is surrounded by older, poor quality housing where the richer have moved out and also high quality expensive housing areas. Most of its inhabitants will work in commercial premises. The CBD will contain offices, shops and ammenities with major road access. High rise tower blocks are not uncommon and are built of concrete, steel and other high quality materials. Provision of services will be high due to the large demand and ability to profit from providing them. The environment will be clean and sanitized by government paid cleaners and any problems will be sorted by repair people. Police will be on hand to provide assistance.
Expensive Housing District :
People living here will have expensive housing raging from apartment complexes, each with its own social and recreational facilities, to grand detached houses with large gardens and individual swimming pools. The size of the family will probably be limited to two children, with housemaids and security guards. The houses will be located near to the CBD where most of its inhabitants will work. Any children will be healthy and well educated, and aquire well-paid jobs. Homes are also likely to be near shops and ammenties provided by the CBD. Transport be mostly be by private car or taxi. The environment will be clean with some street cleaners.
Poor Housing District :
Normal called 'favelas' these shanty towns are occupied by squatters who have no legal right to the land they occupy. They are home to thousands upon thousands of the poor and rural migrants that set up and live in a small one or two roomed shack built from waste materials. These zones will be on the outskirts and usually line the roads. There are usually no facilites for the people living there e.g. no fresh water or sanitation etc. The environment is physically repulsive. The combination of small enclosed space with many people living anywhere possible leads to lack of proper sewerage, electicity, gas, clean running water, toilets etc. Spaces soon become filled with rubbish, as there is no rufuse collection. The area is very overcrowded with health and welfare very poor. Education is non-existant. leading to mass unemployment.
With no transport, the area lacks any movement towards quality and tends to increase in its bad state until local government bodies attempt to help.
Attempting to model land use in Sao Paulo
Land use based on ammenties and structures can be mapped easily. After deciding that a city is developing, the following can be used to show land use :-
Land use in Sao Paulo in relation to Liverpool
Problems ceated by rapid urban growth in Sao Paulo
The favelas are located on the routes into the city and on the outskirts where land has been lft empty. They grew up on steep hillsides which are liable to have landslides. They also form on badly drained, unhealthy valley floors. of Sao Paulo's population live in favelas. People living there are poor and normally uneducated. Any children growing up will almost certainly become illiterate and continue to live in unhygenic conditions. Such a high density of housing makes the environment and living conditions very poor. People living in them face a high risk of disease and early death; infant mortality is high and life expectancy is short. Family life is always under strain as they can lead to an increase in crime and gangs of street children that already roam the city streets. Favelas destroy any land they are built on and much of the area around it, just by depositing waste materials they need to build their homes. Without adequate sewerage system, low-lying areas in and around the site quickly become unusable.
Attempting to improving conditions
Community housing projects and self-help schemes are being introduced to help the people in the favelas. They involve the building of strong, well built houses with adequate space for a large family. They have communal fresh water supplies, electicity and possibly gas to share and use. By being built well, they last for longer than most other housing that could be built and because planned and paid for by local government, they are well designed and layed out to take the best advantage of the space available. These houses are then given to the most eligible families and expected to help them towards a better standard of living.
Self-help scheme involve giving favela residents the materials and money needed to bring themselves out of the poor state they are in. By encouraging them to work for themselves, they are set goals and hopefully continue to bring themselves out of the unfortunate situation they are in.
The disadvantages of housing projects is that thoses not elligble for houses may dislike the people who have got them and cause trouble. Without proper management the rows of houses may just become high-class favelas supplied with electricity, instead of new areas expected to improve as families concentrate on helping themselves.
Self-help schemes are expensive and may collapse if training is not given to those that start the process, although once started successfully, the skills are self-replicating.
By destroying all current favelas and then banning others; large scale, low cost housing would be the best way to improving conditions. A carefully monitiered scheme of teaching unskilled workers and introducing apprenticeships in businesses would work well if done correctly.
Sao Paulo in the future
Sao Paulo's increase in population will slow as the push and pull factors equal out and there is medium qualitly of life both in the city and the country. People will continue to live in favelas as long as the government does nothing. Schemes taken up whereby the commercial parts of the city regroup to an outer area have help other cities, but not those that have such a bad problem and are still developing.