The Impact of Construction Rights on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Urban Transformation Structuring Network of the City of São Paulo: Historical Analysis and Future Scenarios

Between 70% and 80% of global air pollutant and CO2 emissions come from urban areas. In addition to bearing increasing responsibility for their causes, cities are also the ones that suffer most from their effects and, in particular, are the areas of greatest social and environmental vulnerability.

In Brazil, most greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 were caused by land-use changes and the agricultural sector, responsible for 44% and 19%, respectively. The energy sector, despite ranking third with 19%, saw the largest increase in emissions in the last 20 years, reaching almost double the contribution recorded since 1990 (IEMA, 2020). Most of this increase was due to the expansion of the country's car and truck fleets. In the state of São Paulo, for example, the energy sector accounted for approximately 57% of GHG emissions (CETESB, 2011), with the transportation subsector also accounting for a large portion of this increase.

This scenario could worsen further. Projections for 2030 reveal that, if the disorderly urbanization model of cities, which has led to the precarious occupation of environmentally protected areas, is not reversed, floods with significant runoff and landslide potential will become even more common.

This will further affect low-income populations living in environmentally vulnerable areas, according to Nobre (2010). To address this challenge, the city of São Paulo adopted a Climate Change Policy in 2009. Regarding land use, the compact city principle stands out, with the economic incentives section providing incentives for buildings that promote the reduction of GHG emissions through construction rights.

Construction royalties are the financial charges paid by new developments to offset the negative externalities generated by the intensification of land use. This charge is paid on the additional building potential utilized, defined by the difference between the basic and maximum coefficients established by municipal urban legislation.

The Strategic Master Plan (PDE, 2014) and the Land Division, Use, and Occupation Law (LPUOS, 2016) were a turning point in São Paulo's urban management toward a Sustainable Transportation-Oriented Development (TOD) policy. According to this new legislation, strategic zones along medium- and high-capacity public transportation corridors (the metro-rail system and exclusive bus lanes, both existing and planned) were designed to concentrate population density and the expected job growth over the next 16 years. Two main elements were recognized in these areas oriented towards urban transformation: (i) the Metropolitan Structuring Macro-Area (MEM), where the underutilized industrial park, well-served by infrastructure systems and strategically located, should be reconfigured through Urban Intervention Projects (PIU); and (ii) the Urban Transformation Structuring Axes (EETU), where the aim was to link construction densification with the improvement of real estate production, to create a more balanced relationship between buildings and the city. Both elements were then combined as part of the Urban Structuring and Transformation Network (RETU) (Figure 01).