New urban policies, new forms of social participation? The challenges of the Água Espraiada Urban Consortium Operation in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract Urban consortium operation is a Brazilian instrument to implement large urban projects. It aims to promote urban services and infrastructure in a specific perimeter by selling construction benefits, which include changes in land uses and building rights. The list of works, their priority and overall development should be debated in management councils representing the diversity of stakeholders involved in the project. Focusing on the Água Espraiada Urban Consortium Operation in São Paulo, this paper analyses the work of its management committee from 2001 to 2014 and exposes disputes among different stakeholders, as well as their strategies and challenges to effective participation. Ultimately, what was supposed to be an arena for democratic decision-making has become an informative arena that legitimizes the project.


Introduction
Who is against participation? Or, more specifically, who is against having a voice in the decision-making process that will determine the future of our cities? It is difficult to find anyone who opposes this. In Brazil, even more so. On the one hand, the country has experienced long periods of centralized and authoritarian planning that have not   (Rolnik, 1997;Villaça, 2001 there were piecemeal changes, the delay-ridden process was still dependent on the approval of the city council. Urban policies became identified with centralized and bureaucratic regimes that did not deliver on their promises of economic and social development (Maricato, 2000;Villaça, 2004).

Given the scenario of gridlock in São
Paulo's urban planning and in light of the scarce public resources of an economy facing stagflation, partial deindustrialization and the beginning of neoliberal adjustments, urban planning also faced reforms (Fernandes, 2001). Instead of comprehensive plans in a tabula rasa, the new planning ideal was based on fragmented or strategic interventions in the urban space, taking international experiences such as Barcelona as the model of intervention. The mottos were regeneration and synergy, in the expectation that a "benign metastasis" 4 would follow the "surgical" intervention, promoting larger physical and social transformations in the territory (Compans, 2005;Sánchez, 2003). With a clear similarity to the trickledown effect idealized by economists, this model was easily appropriated by neoliberal policies, since it assumes that, by investing in competitive locations, the positive effects would be shared by the entire city.
These public benefits would include economic growth, job creation, larger tax bases, diversity of commerce and services, among others. The goals of urban transformation in these projects became closer to the adaptation of cities to a new phase of economic development. This new spatial fix, necessary to the evolution of late capitalism, uses the production of space as a key tool to accumulate capital and promote (relative) location-based advantages (Brenner & Theodore, 2002;Harvey, 1989). Neoliberal real estate values to more competitive uses (Hackworth & Smith, 2001;Smith, 2002). Therefore, these partnerships can become "Trojan Horses" (Miraftab, 2004) (2) traditional middle -and high -income neighborhoods, including single-family zoned areas; (3) a great number of informal residents, totaling more than 10,000 households; and (4) a former industrial area, with underutilized large parcels well-served by urban-infrastructure.
Additionally, it is important to mention that the area included in the perimeter of the project has been the focus of public and private investments even before the AEUCO (Ferreira, 2003;Nobre, 2000).   (Fix, 2001).
The families that were able to stay in the location, on the other hand, became a symbol of social mobilization. With the support of the     In interviews with residents and real estate consultants, it was stated that the bridge has no functionality, which is summarized with sentences such as "it connects nothing to nowhere". However, they all agree that it is the most visible public investment in the AEUCO and has become a symbol of the Global São Paulo. Indeed, the objective was to create a new landmark and this had a major importance in the selection of the design, as stated by the public institution responsible for the project: [ ... ] t h e p hy sic al c ha r a c t e r is t ic s of t he area , t he t ransfor mations experienced with the emergence of numerous intelligent buildings, the work requirements to reduce negative impacts during execution, the evolution of design techniques and works of art, and the need to qualify the urban aesthetics with a singular design that can become a reference to the city -all these factors in conjunction point towards the cable-stayed as the construction option for the project. (PMSP, 2004, p. 31; translated by the author) In the same document, it was also mentioned that the cable-stayed bridge  (9) This table represents the original legislation of the AEUCO as it was first idealized and effective during the time span of this research (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014). However, Municipal Law nº 13260 of 2001 was partially altered by Municipal Law nº 16975 of 2018, increasing the total additional building rights to 4,850,000 m 2 and redistributing the shares for each sector. For instance, in the Jabaquara sector, the building rights diminished from 500,000 m 2 to 250,000 m 2 ; in the Brooklin sector, they diminished from 1,500,000 m 2 to 1,400,000 m 2 ; and in the Berrini sector, the building rights increased from 250,000 m 2 to 350,000 m 2 . Additionally, the new legislation created a "technical reserve" of 250,000 m 2 to be distributed by SP Urbanismo, after consulting the local environment institutions and the AEUCO management council, to the first sector with only 50,000 m 2 left in construction potential.
(10) The Americanópolis sector does not have construction benefits.
(11) The only exception are parcels close to the single-family zoning in the Brooklin sector.
(12) Minimum parcel size for the Brooklin sector was altered by Municipal Law nº 16975/2018 to 1,000 m 2 .
(14) It is important to mention that land assemblage is not performed by the public sector in the AEUCO. The policy only opens the possibility for private investors, and they are responsible for all of its steps. Investments by the state are made on the list of works and by using the resources gathered by selling the construction benefits. Therefore, there is a clear distinction between urban operations and urban renewal projects in the United States and Europe, where the state is responsible for these other aspects of redevelopment in addition to infrastructure works (Hall, 2002).
(15) CEPACs can be sold in public distributions during auctions at BMF&Bovespa or in private distributions to be used directly as a form of payment for works and expropriations. They can also serve as guarantees for financial institutions providing loans to the municipal government for interventions in the urban operation. It is important to mention that all the financial data used in this paper reflects the AEUCO before the transformations of the project enacted by Municipal Law nº 16975, approved in September 2018. (28) The monorail runs on elevated tracks over part of the Água Espraiada Avenue. However, its dimensions are quite pronounced and even the public official from METRO stated that they did not expect this type of structural system. In order to answer to the reactions, METRO carried out a study to demonstrate its impact on the nearby neighborhoods. For that, they hired one of the most famous postmodern architects of São Paulo, which is interpreted again as a form of legitimizing the project. METRO also plans to implement visual blocks in the parts of the line closer to the residences. However, the negative reactions have not diminished. The general association is with an elevated road in downtown São Paulo, popularly known as "big worm" (Minhocão). After its construction, property prices diminished given its visual impact, proximity to the buildings, and noise level. The concern is also with the occupation of the areas bellow the elevated tracks by homeless people and criminals, which could increase urban violence, according to some representatives of the civil society.
(29) The agreement between the municipal and the state government was published in the official gazette on July 07, 2010.