2024
MCHAP
Urbanização do Cantinho do Céu
Boldarini Arquitetos Associados
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
March 2023
PRIMARY AUTHOR
Marcos Boldarini (Partner Architect), Lucas Bertholdo Nobre (Partner Architect)
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR
Elisabete França (Project Management - Secretaria Executiva do Programa Mananciais), Letícia Tamisari (Project Management - Secretaria Executiva do Programa Mananciais), Laura Dallabrida (Project Management - Secretaria Executiva do Programa Mananciais), José Roberto do Nascimento (Construction work - Consórcio Recuperação Ambiental), Adriano Reis Marques (Construction work - Consórcio Recuperação Ambiental
CLIENT
Elisabete França - Project Management - Secretaria Executiva do Programa Mananciais
PHOTOGRAPHER
Heloisa Takahama
OBJECTIVE
The ‘Cantinho do Céu’ urbanization project was developed based on the understanding of the importance and urgent need of the territory’s urban qualification. Its main element is represented by the six phases that make up a linear park, which, in addition to creating spaces for sports and leisure, seeks to explore possibilities for bringing people closer to the water, respecting social structures and local morphology, resulted from a collective construction. The project brings urban infrastructures and public recreational spaces to a community that lacked access to clean water, sanitation services and public spaces; reforests and preserves the banks of the reservoir and reverses the discharge of sewage into the water body; and was developed alongside the community, ensuring community-generated interventions and the continuity and preservation of the project through social engagement.
CONTEXT
The municipal housing policy adopted over the past decades has committed to feasibly implement a more complex urbanization projects in areas occupied by low-income land subdivision. In this context, the ‘Cantinho do Céu’ project stands out, a work located on the banks of the Billings Dam, in the southern part of the city of São Paulo, about 33 km from the downtown. The area has nearly 10,000 families in its 150 hectares, stretches about 7 km along the Billings Dam and is part of watershed protection and recovery area in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region. Such areas are of the regional interest for maintaining the water production and quality. The urbanization project is part of the "Programa Mananciais”, coordinated by the - Secretaria Executiva do Programa Mananciais - São Paulo Social Housing Department, which aims to restore the environment and improve the quality of life of the population living in these areas. The main approach of this project is to enable the implementation of urban infrastructure, essential element for assessing the built environment, also to create a park offers the local population and the city a public with urban and environmental quality. During the development and construction phases of the project, between 2021 and 2023, works were carried out to implement environmental sanitation systems, paving and street lighting. In addition, new areas for leisure, sports and contemplation were provided in phases 2 and 5 of the ‘Cantinho do Céu’ Park, expanding the range of outdoor activities for all age groups.
PERFORMANCE
Urbanization projects in precarious settlements play an important role in the urban and environmental assessment of the concerned areas. Looking for solutions to geological and hydrological hazards, and carrying out sanitation and urban infrastructure works result direct benefits to the local population. These initiatives improve the quality of life, and enable actions for landholding regularization as well. Reducing the direct discharge of sewage into water bodies is a significant contribution to preserving the environment.
The ‘Cantinho do Céu’ project is a practical experience of the benefits of this approach. In addition it also foresees the adjustment of basic sanitation systems and movement and mobility means by implementing a public park on the banks of the Billings Dam, which provides leisure, sports and contemplation opportunities estimated in 10,000 families. This action promotes individual well-being, strengthens community ties, and provides spaces for socialization and recreation.
The results of the work carried out in the ‘Cantinho Céu’ project show important achievements in the urban and environmental assessment process in the region, enabled by the implementation of the "Programa Mananciais", a specific action in environmentally protected areas, integrated into the municipal public housing policy. In this way, the precarious settlements involved in the project have experienced significant improvements on the infrastructure, and in terms of access to urban services as well, which were previously limited by the lack of an suitable structure.