Inside São Paulo's Radical Fight for Affordable Housing

Over the past decade, São Paulo sat at the epicenter of Brazil’s economic boom. Millions flocked to the metropolitan region in search of jobs and a better quality of life. This mass migration, however, did not give rise to commensurate social programs or more inclusionary housing practices. São Paulo remains a city notoriously divided by class, with development driven by an avaricious property market.

These issues were largely addressed in a new master plan for the city passed last summer. Its core tenets revolved around bureaucratic transparency, greater mobility, spatial inclusiveness, and environmental sustainability. At the forefront of agitating for such change has been the Homeless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto, or MTST), which has long stood on the front lines in battling corruption and advocating for low-income housing. But now, much of the organization’s hard work to reform municipal policy could be undone.