Metropolitan Governance in Brazil

In less than fifty years, Brazil evolved
from a predominantly rural society and economy to a highly
urbanized country in which 85 percent of its people now live
in urban areas and more than 90 percent of the country’s GDP
is generated in the cities. This rapid urbanization process
was characterized by a lack of planning and an enduring
framework of inequality, resulting in high degrees of
concentrated poverty in the urban areas. Much of this
urbanization has taken place in metropolitan regions (MRs).
MRs have grown more rapidly than the rest of the country,
both in population and in GDP terms. In 2010, per capita GDP
was higher in MRs than in the rest of the country and
metropolitan economies accounted for 70 percent of GDP. At
the same time, half of the Brazilian poor and 90 percent of
the people living in subnormal conditions were found in
metropolitan regions. The recent approval of a new framework
for metropolitan governance inBrazil creates the opportunity
for debate and evolution regarding several key issues. These
include: a) placing metropolitan matters at the forefront of
the development arena in Brazil; b) reviewing what has been
learned about inter-municipal governance and service
delivery; c) estimating resource mobilization needs for
metropolitan development; d) coordinating metropolitan land
use with transport and housing; e) including metropolitan
concerns in any revision of fiscal federalism; and f)
promoting environmental sustainability, social inclusion and
resilience to disasters and climate change plans at the
metropolitan scale. The World Bank can be a partner in
addressing these issues. In responding to client demand, the
Bank has been providing a range of support to Brazilian
states and cities and especially their low- income
populations in the areas of infrastructure, social services,
slum upgrading, institutional development, river basin
management, local economic development, environmental
protection, water and sanitation, and transportation.