This book analyzes in detail the main social, economic and special transformation of the city of Sao Paulo. In the last 30 years, Sao Paulo has become a more heterogeneous and less unequal city. Contrary to some expectations, the recent economic transformations did not produce social polarization, and the localized processes of spaces production (and the plural is increasingly important) are more and more key to define their respective growth patterns, social conditions, forms of housing production, service availability and urban precariousness. In other dimensions, however, inequalities remain present and strong and certain disadvantaged areas have changed little and are still marked by strong social inequalities. The metropolis remains heavily segregated in terms of race and class, in a clear hierarchical structure. The book shows that it is necessary to escape from dual and polarity interpretations. This did not lead to the complete disappearance of a crudely radial and concentric structure (not only due to geographic path dependence), but superposes other elements over it, leading to more complexes and continuous patterns. A general summary of these elements could perhaps be stated as pointing to greater social/spatial heterogeneity, accompanied by smaller, but reconfigured inequalities.

Contending that everyday sociability and social networks are central elements to an understanding of urban poverty, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South draws on detailed research conducted in SAGBPo Paulo in an examination of the social networks of individuals who identify as poor. The book uses a multi-methods approach not only to test the importance of networks, but also to disentangle the effects of networks and segregation and to specify the relational and spatial mechanisms associated with the production of poverty. It thus explores the different types of network that exist amongst the metropolitan poor, the conditions that shape and influence them, their consequences for the production of poverty and the mechanisms through which networks influence daily living conditions. A rigorous examination of poverty in a contemporary megacity, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South will appeal to sociologists, political scientists and geographers with interests in urban studies, poverty and segregation and social networks.

This book analyzes in detail the main social, economic and special transformation of the city of Sao Paulo. In the last 30 years, Sao Paulo has become a more heterogeneous and less unequal city. Contrary to some expectations, the recent economic transformations did not produce social polarization, and the localized processes of spaces production (and the plural is increasingly important) are more and more key to define their respective growth patterns, social conditions, forms of housing production, service availability and urban precariousness. In other dimensions, however, inequalities remain present and strong and certain disadvantaged areas have changed little and are still marked by strong social inequalities. The metropolis remains heavily segregated in terms of race and class, in a clear hierarchical structure. The book shows that it is necessary to escape from dual and polarity interpretations. This did not lead to the complete disappearance of a crudely radial and concentric structure (not only due to geographic path dependence), but superposes other elements over it, leading to more complexes and continuous patterns. A general summary of these elements could perhaps be stated as pointing to greater social/spatial heterogeneity, accompanied by smaller, but reconfigured inequalities.

Contending that everyday sociability and social networks are central elements to an understanding of urban poverty, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South draws on detailed research conducted in SAGBPo Paulo in an examination of the social networks of individuals who identify as poor. The book uses a multi-methods approach not only to test the importance of networks, but also to disentangle the effects of networks and segregation and to specify the relational and spatial mechanisms associated with the production of poverty. It thus explores the different types of network that exist amongst the metropolitan poor, the conditions that shape and influence them, their consequences for the production of poverty and the mechanisms through which networks influence daily living conditions. A rigorous examination of poverty in a contemporary megacity, Opportunities and Deprivation in the Urban South will appeal to sociologists, political scientists and geographers with interests in urban studies, poverty and segregation and social networks.