Large urban projects – The study-case of Porto Alegre, Brazil

During the last few decades, a scenario of competition between cities for investments and prestige has emerged. An important marketing strategy used by cities to attract attention in the international scenario is to conduct innovation, renewal and regeneration projects. Large Urban Projects play an important role on this image change. Hosting mega events is considered by the local governments and the private sector as an opportunity of accomplishing Large Urban Projects in a short time, as the event has a fixed date.

The objective of this article is to map the several Large Urban Projects that are taking place in Porto Alegre, located in the south of Brazil, and their relation with mega-events, since Porto Alegre will be one of the host cities of the FIFA World Cup in 2014, and to identify the actors involved on this process.

In Porto Alegre, there are at least twelve Large Urban Projects in different stages. Stadia are being built, changes in urban legislation have been already accomplished by pressure of the real estate companies, public land has been donated to the private sector, and beautification projects of the city water front and main canal were recently signed by the mayor.

In the 1990s, the urban legislation of Porto Alegre was changed to allow the so-called “Special Projects” to be built with few – if any – red tape constraints. At that time, local authorities argued that this would benefit the city and its population. Today, the benefits of the current transformations in city, including the changes in the legislation that allow it, are being acclaimed by the local authorities and the media as “the dream of modernization come true”. However, the complexity and wide range of these changes will give to many conflicts. This article is part of a dissertation research project.