Urban coverage: unexplored potential, normative dimension and urban planning instruments

The roofs, slabs and roofs of buildings make up a large elevated territory in the city of São Paulo, covering approximately 442 km. These spaces offer great potential for use in socio-environmental transition strategies and combating climate change, through the generation of renewable energy, food production and rainwater retention. However, the territory of urban roofs is still little discussed from a regulatory perspective. To contribute to this debate, this article presents initial reflections from an ongoing study on urban roofs in São Paulo. In the first section, we present a preliminary dimension of the roof area and its distribution in zones delimited by the PDE (2014) and LPUOS (2016), as well as simplified estimates of the potential of roofs for generating electricity and producing food. In the second section of the article, we examine the regulatory dimension of the destination of urban roofs, considering existing regulations at the federal, state and municipal levels, especially the urban regulatory framework of the city, with a focus on the Environmental Quota. Finally, in the final considerations we present some proposals for facing the challenge of expanding the use of roofs through urban planning and regulation instruments in the city of São Paulo, considering the context of the review of the Master Plan.

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