Common property in the city: Curbing urban vacancy in São Paulo

Abigail Friendly

Urban Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 6, 1062-1082

Abstract: The issue of urban vacancy is both a complex and a prevalent phenomenon in multiple contexts globally, providing an opening to address systemic issues of precarity. In this article, I explore the issue of urban vacancy in São Paulo, where the problem of vacant property has been highlighted for years alongside housing challenges and socio-spatial segregation. While São Paulo’s real estate market is often unreachable for the urban poor, a Brazilian constitutional directive on the social function of property – the obligation to use property to further the common good – enables municipalities to take punitive action against owners of vacant property through a triad of policy tools. Therefore, despite the often-exclusionary nature of vacancy, transformational possibilities may exist. Exploring the application of these tools, I view urban vacancy through a perspective on common property, untangling emergent contestations and opportunities for transformation.

Keywords: Brazil; urban vacancy; transformations; urban policy; precarity; housing; 巴西; 城市空置; è½¬å ˜; 城市政策; ä¸ ç¨³å®š; ä½ æˆ¿ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:6:p:1062-1082

DOI: 10.1177/00420980241271063

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