Design
With Its New Master Plan, São Paulo Takes Aim at Gated Towers
The effort to curb street life-killing building designs could have a lasting impact on the city's culture.
“Mr. Developer, tear down those walls,” might as well be one of the slogans for São Paulo’s ambitious new urban master plan. It prohibits gated-off buildings in some parts of the city and encourages new developments that provide street-level interaction with retail.
The effort to curb street life-killing development—especially the walled-off residential complexes common across the city—could have a lasting impact on what São Paulo’s streets look like and how its residents interact with each other.