The
Mega-City of Sao Paulo May Become World's Largest
Sao Paulo is large by any standard, with nearly 20
million residents spread on an expanse of land that
stretches more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) from
the city center. Sao Paulo ranks as the third largest
city in the world, behind Tokyo and Mexico City, and,
if current projections hold true, may be the largest
by 2015.
Sao
Paulo's Immigrants Contribute to Cultural Mosaic
Sao Paulo's history is filled with stories of immigrants
carving out their niche within the city, starting
with the first inhabitants, the Portuguese. For three
hundred years, Sao Paulo's population slowly grew
to two million people. When slavery was abolished
throughout the country in 1888, Sao Paulo experienced
its next rush of immigrants as blacks from the north
streamed down to the city looking for employment.
During
this time, a major influx of foreign immigrants, mostly
Italians, came to Sao Paulo, and by the 1950s, more
than five million had arrived. The Italians settled
in the neighborhood of Bixiga, sharing it with blacks
from northern Brazil. At that time, the neighborhood
was on the fringe of the city and its people were
very poor. As the city has grown, Bixiga has become
a prosperous neighborhood and an important part of
the city's core. Japanese immigration began early
in the twentieth century and centered around the Liberdade
region. Today Sao Paulo boasts the largest population
of Japanese outside of Japan.
Shanty
Communities Keep Growing
By 1960, the city had reached a population of almost
13 million, but still more people were on the way.
The newest immigrants began to construct homes and
neighborhoods on the periphery of the city in a process
called "self-construction." The resulting
unplanned, sporadic, disorganized layout of the shanties
has caused the city to grow into a metropolis with
a sixty-mile radius. Most shanty neighborhoods are
not officially recognized by the city, but as the
cardboard and scrap metal homes are replaced with
more permanent structures, there is increasing pressure
to provide them with city services: public transportation,
sewer and water lines, schools, and electricity. With
luck and hard work, the people in shanty neighborhoods
hope to build and improve their lives by linking themselves,
as previous immigrants did, with the thriving city
in the distance.
Land-Use
Patterns of Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo has a vibrant core region, with a triangular
pattern carved by the Portuguese that still can be
seen today. As new residents move into the city they
create neighborhoods on its edge, slowly expanding
the city and integrating themselves into the city
service district. In present day Sao Paulo, this pattern
continues in the new shanty neighborhoods that are
rising, well removed from the core area and disconnected
from city services. As the shanties grow, only some
are integrated into the city, while most still suffer
sub-standard conditions.
Geographers
Guided by the Global Positioning System
By measuring the sides and angles of triangles, a
network of satellites can now precisely record the
coordinates of any site on the earth's surface. A
hand-held global positioning system device can calculate
these triangulation measurements and display the latitude
and longitude of a spot with an accuracy of a few
feet to a few yards. Using GPS along with maps and
air photos, field researchers can record land-use
activities at exact locations.
Can
Resource Use in the Rain Forest Sustain the Ecosystem?
New settlers in Amazonia are exploiting the area's
natural resources. The principal economic activities
that use these resources include logging, ranching,
and agriculture. Conservationists argue that the rain
forest ecosystem is too fragile to withstand the impact
of this development. Geographer Christopher Uhl believes
that a balance between conservation and development
can be achieved. Using GPS in his research, Uhl concluded
that the forest regenerates from its perimeter. Thus,
to promote maximum re-growth, development should occur
in island-type patterns. Replacing large clear-cuts
with a series of smaller fields will promote a healthier
ecosystem.
Planning
for Sustainable Development
Geographic tools such as GPS and air photos are also
being used to monitor compliance with a new land-use
regulation allowing only fifty percent of the privately
owned portion of the Brazilian rain forest to be developed.
This statute, based on the sustainability ethos, is
a compromise between preservation and economic goals.
Existing
agricultural production is being redesigned for efficiency.
An approach called intensification is now part of
the development plan. If a given parcel of pasture
can be better managed for its productivity and longevity,
then fewer rain forests need be razed. This theory
is practiced with techniques such as the intermixing
of profitable crops and the use of higher-grade, less
damaging fertilizers.
New
Logging Methods Can Make a Difference
We also hear from ecologist Daniel Nepstad, who has
been studying logging practices in the Amazonian rainforest.
Using maps and other data, he posits that using different
machinery and cutting the vines that connect trees
prior to logging can alleviate severe damage to the
forest and allow it to bounce back more quickly.
