Sao Paulo is transforming favelas and informal cities into a new middle class through new ways of urban design and infrastructure.  This gives Sao Paulo a chance to rejuvenate their city and break the barriers between what is considered the slums and formal cities.  To me this is an exciting moment for Sao Paulo and possibly the rest of the world.  Sao Paulo is solving problems that the rest of the world has not yet met head on.  They are designing a city in which poverty is mitigated simply through well thought out design.  Sao Paulo may become a new precedent for the world to follow once this design is proven efficient.

The fact that they are braking the barriers between the poor, middle class, and affluent individuals within the city is amazing.  With the help of programs such as Programa de Aceleracao (PAC) and Plano Municipal de Habitacao (PMH), the transformation of the informal city is made possible.  The reading states Sao Paulo still needs work, however they are moving in the right direction.  The reading refers to the rise of the people in the slums as the “new middle class” who will provide an opportunity to investigate new demands for the city’s urbanity.  This is very exciting, the simple fact the new ways to treat the urban fabric in Sao Paulo will emerge through meeting the new demands of this city’s urbanity is quite exciting.

Projects such as the Antonio Creek Urban Project shows the new methods of design taking place for Sao Paulo, the project is to design a drainage system and the to reconfigure open spaces while simultaneously appropriate this system in a way the prevents future illegal activities.   These projects are finding ways to appropriate the use of space through thoughtful design strategies while changing the urban infrastructure at the same time.