of cars in the city and cut daily emissions of carbon monoxide by at least 550 tonnes. However, rich motorists get around this by owning more than one car. The super rich use helicopters to get around; São Paulo has the highest use of commuter helicopters in the world. Most tall buildings in the central business district have helipads.
São Paulo has tackled the favela problem in two ways. Up until the 1990s the government response was complete neglect. When ignoring the problem did not resolve it, the local government evicted people, demolished the favelas and constructed buildings on the newly vacant land.
Meanwhile, the displaced residents were given modest relocation payments
and encouraged to move ‘somewhere farther out’, usually onto low-lying or poor quality public land. This approach moved the favelas further out of the city. Since the 1990s the local government introduced a slum demolition-and-redevelopment
programme nicknamed Cingapura (the Portuguese pronunciation of Singapore). Under Cingapura, the Municipality of São Paulo cleared out all the favelas built beside rivers, railway lines and highways. They then built footpaths and brightly painted multi-storey housing blocks, each with its own gated entryway. These apartments have running water, sewerage and electricity.
But these high-rises are unpopular compared with renovating the informally built homes in the favelas. So the local government now improves existing homes. The streets are paved and street lighting is installed. This combines an improved sense of community with better housing and social services.
Fig. 27 Favelas are notorious fire hazards - flames spread quickly due to cramped conditions and the use of poor building materials to construct the makeshift houses.