CITIES The Magazine

Page 88

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and the world's 7th largest metropolitan area.[2][3] The city is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous Brazilian state. It is also the richest city in Brazil. The name of the city honors Saint Paul. São Paulo exerts strong regional influence in commerce and finance as well as arts and entertainment.

CONTEXT�

São Paulo� rea A Total Population Pop density

1,522.99/km² 11,037,593 7,216.3/km²

STATS�

The SESC Pompeii is an urban facility that contains theaters, gymnasiums, swimming pool, leisure areas, cafeteria, restaurant, exhibition spaces, pubs, shops and other services. The Museum of the Portuguese Language (Portuguese: Museu da Língua Portuguesa) is an interactive museum about the Portuguese language in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The museum is contained within the Estação da Luz train station, in the Luz district. The museum is located above the train platform, where 300,000 people pass each day.

NUMBERS�

Reusing heritage sites of the early 20th century for cultural purposes proved to be a successful path. One of my preferred examples in the field is the Museum of the Portuguese Language, hosted in a still operating railway. Under the initiative of the Secretary of Culture to the State of São Paulo, but developed through a public-private partnership and managed by an independent NGO, it opened its doors in 2006 and soon became the most visited museum of Brazil. It also generated synergies with the Arts Museum (Pinacoteca) across the road and the nearby Museum of Sacred Arts. But more than that, it proved that a state-of-the-art museum can be appropriated by the rushing, mixed avalanche of people who work or live downtown. Though contrasts are one of the most fascinating aspects of São Paulo, it is time that more and more social and cultural bridges reunite economic extremes. These two examples are doing their part. But above all, what São Paulo really needs is a concerted public policy, integrating all different sectors and recalling that mobility – be it physical, cultural, social or economic – is one the city’s strongest marks. Text by Ana Carla Fonseca Reis.

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� CITIES The Magazine

ANA CARLA FONSECA REIS Ana Carla Fonseca Reis is a founding partner of the consultancy company "Garimpo deSolues – economics, culture and development" (www. garimpodesolucoes.com.br), UN Special Advisor on Creative Economy (UNCTAD, UNDP), volunteer Director of Economics of Culture of Instituto Pensarte, international speaker in five languages, researcher, professor and coordinator of a number of university courses on culture and management and curator of various national and international congresses.


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