A public park in Sao Paulo. The city prides itself on 40 city and state parks. PHOTO | CHARLES NYAGETUBA
What you need to know:
Sao Paulo is a great player both in Brazil and internationally in terms of economy, culture and politics.
There are few countries in the world that accurately fit the often colourful, adjective-laden descriptions in travel magazines than Brazil.
The population of the country is large. Football is the stuff of life. And going by the number of sex shops I encountered within hours of landing in Sao Paulo, their casual attitude towards sex is not an overstatement.
Sao Paulo is vast. The skyscrapers are unnerving.
“This is not a tourist destination. For tours, Rio is the place to go,” my guide tells me. There are no immediate historic buildings dripping with Gothic splendour, or the rich heritage that characterises some of the world’s largest cities. The city prides itself as the leader in Brazil; its Latin motto loosely translates, “I am not led; I lead.”
Sao Paulo, a great player both in Brazil and internationally in terms of economy, culture and politics, is however, a rigid city in structure. It is largely cosmopolitan, just like the country.
The city’s population comprises descendants of Portuguese immigrants as well as those of their slaves — and of the local Amerindian peoples as well, of course. And more recently Europeans have arrived in search of work and a better life.
As the 12th most populous city in the world, the strain on resources is evident. The trio of urban problems that define cities — slums (called favelas), pollution (both air and water) and traffic (congestion means traffic is not restricted to peak hours) — pretty much sum up Brazil’s largest city.
Yet, despite these challenges, the city is dealing with the problems with a sense of the future; more than half of the world’s population is projected to move to cities in two or three decades.
On the morning of our arrival, we went to Tiete Bus Terminal, the second largest in the world. With a myriad bus lines, it will take you a long time to find your way around. Even locals find it hard to grasp. The terminal is connected to the subway, which has helped ease traffic on the roads, even though cars still congest the city.
The high number of cars means that air pollution is high. The slum population (estimates indicate at least 20 per cent of Sao Paulo inhabitants live in the slums) has led to degradation of the two major rivers, the Tiete and Pinheiros. Authorities have now put the River Tiete on a rehabilitation programme.
A tour around the city displays another side — an enviably green one. The municipality has 21 per cent green area cover that includes ecological reserves. The city prides itself on 40 city and state parks.
Sao Paulo has the Tourist State Cantareira Park covering 7,900 acres of trees. The park and the surrounding landscape give the city a sub-tropical climate that is mostly humid, the guide informed us. The annual average temperature is 19 degrees. The Parque Estadual das Fontes do Ipiranga, the Ibirapuera Park, the Tietê Ecological Park, and the Jaragua State Park were listed as World Heritage Sites by Unesco in 1994.
Housing and class divide
In residential neighbourhoods, many areas have limited access or are completely restricted. Most of the areas that are in the immediate periphery of the CBD have horizontal condominiums that house the upper middle-class of Sao Paulo. For the average middle-class, there are high-rise apartments.
Apartments close to town are often empty as the working class cannot afford to rent them, thus many live miles away from their work places. Some neighbourhoods like Jardins and Vila Maladena are exclusively for the city’s rich.
Many of the poor in Sao Paulo migrated from the north and came to the city in search for jobs. Most have come from Bolivia and Haiti. On visiting the Caritas of Sao Paulo, my guide showed me Congolese refugees, and said, “This has promoted modern slavery as the refugees have to take up low paying jobs and contend with poor housing. Many actually live on the roadside.”
Business vs tourism
Banks, hotels and other blue-chip companies are concentrated in the boroughs of Sé, Pinheiros and Santo Amaro. Paulista Avenue houses offices of banks, multinationals, hotels, consulates and is a major tourist and cultural attraction of the city.
In my view, São Paulo stands out more as a city marked by business than recreational tourism. However, my host points out that cultural tourism is booming given the many events and celebrities who tour the city annually. Besides, the night life is very vibrant.
Sports
Sao Paulo is home to the top three Brazilian football clubs popularly known as “Trio de Ferro” (Trio of Steel) — Corinthians, Palmeiras (founded by Italians) and Sao Paulo FC. There are other sporting facilities for hockey, tennis and volleyball as well.
Culture
Sao Paulo culture has a strong Italian influence, with probably the highest number of Italian immigrants. Everything in Sao Paulo is described as “the largest” of its kind in Brazil. Be it a theatre hall or a university.
Given that Brazil was a Portuguese colony, there is a Museum of the Portuguese; others include the Museum of Art of Sao Paulo and the Museum of Sacred. The city houses one of the top five zoos in the world, the Zoological Park of São Paulo.
Food
Despite its cosmopolitan nature, the staple diet in Brazil seems to be rice and beans, which is prepared in various ways.
All manner of ethnic hotels, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian, cater for the corporate types. Sadly, I did not find a single African hotel. The common beers are Brahma, Itaipaa, Schin and Skol. Light beers with an alcohol content of 4.6 per cent are the most popular.
