Real estate and infrastructure under the control of large corporations: financialization and metropolization of space in São Paulo of 21st Century

Abstract

This proposal formulates its theoretical problem from the critical observation of the reorganization of the business sectors that act in the production of space, debating their relations with the processes of financialization and metropolization. The strengthening of the role of Large Corporations in the production of space since the beginning of this century, articulated with the growing processes of capital centralization, is revealed in the metropolis by their leading role in large real estate developments, in infrastructure privatization processes and in the structuring of investment funds. Ensuring increasing levels of coordination of spatial transformations, the performance of these groups ends up illuminating sophisticated processes of urban restructuring that define the current stage of metropolization. In this sense, we define as object of research the action of the Large Corporations in the production of space, supporting the hypothesis that besides being determinant in the coordination of important transformations in the metropolitan space, they become key in understanding the specificities of the space's financialization process in the Brazilian context. From the dynamics evidenced in the metropolis of São Paulo, we identify these Economic Groups (Developers, Contractors and Industrial Groups) and deepen our analysis in specific cases, considering the corporate reorganization, the strategies and financial instruments mobilized and the main ongoing projects. With theoretical and methodological considerations, the research results seek to comprehend the social relations involved in real estate and infrastructure production and the ongoing changes in the metropolis of São Paulo, aiming to guide the development of inclusive metropolitan policies. (AU)