Climate, urban environment and quality of life: a study on risks and sustainability at São Paulo City

Abstract

This research project is affiliated with interdisciplinary debate about cities, climate and sustainability, and is focused on a study of risk, perception and governance at São Paulo city. The São Paulo State's capital exhibits the main elements of an urban environment, and highlights the problems and challenges which are faced by decision makers and residents, such as irregular settlements on slopes or on the banks of rivers and reservoirs, scarcity of sanitation, traffic congestion and pollution - all of which cause serious impacts on quality of life. Considering some models and projections on environmental change to São Paulo city, it is possible to infer that climate issues may bring a set of hazards that would exacerbate even more the urban problems as well as the risks which people are exposed. Considering this context, this research project is based on a set of qualitative methods and involves a study which combines two different analysis' levels. In a broad level, this research project seeks to understand how stakeholders of science, police and civil society perceive risks associated to climate issues at the local sphere, and how they think about the city's capacity of protection and adaptation, as well as the attribution of responsibilities and actions. In a deep level, drawing on an empirical research in a specific neighborhood, this research project seeks to analyze how people understand their vulnerabilities in a context of extreme events and how they are willing to engage in changes to their life styles. The results will be compared with other scientific analyses in a critical perspective about perceptions, behaviors and governance, in order to contribute to the theoretical debate on risks and uncertainties, and to develop tools to assess perceptions, communicate risks and propose shared public policies. (AU)