Between CEAGESP’s permanence and transfer: critical notes based on the (re)production of São Paulo’s space

Entre la permanencia y la transferencia de la CEAGESP: notas críticas a partir de la producción del espacio de São Paulo

Abstract

In recent decades, a possible transfer of the Agricultural Supply Center (CEAGESP) in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, has been the focus of discussion within the scope of the general transformations of the metropolis of São Paulo. This article aims to reflect on the underlying elements favoring such a transfer and sustains that an adequate understanding of its terms requires the perspective of the reproduction of the space of this metropolis. To do that, an analysis is presented by the crossing of two levels. The first is restricted to emerging processes in the surroundings of the Center in Vila Leopoldina, while the second concerns the production of a new metropolitan perimeter capable of allocating urban investments large enough for such a transfer. Finally, this interweaving is interpreted at the core of the repercussion of the capital’s exacerbated contradictions within the production of the São Paulo metropolitan space.

Keywords: metropolis; critical urbanization; CEAGESP; São Paulo; Mário Covas Beltway