This paper intents to contribute to a critical analysis on the production of low-income housing by the private sector in medium-sized cities in Brazil, between 1999 and 2008, examining their effects on urban space. Discusses the role of municipalities, post-1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution, with emphasis on the Programa de Arrendamento Residencial (PAR), established in 1999 by the Brazilian Federal Government, and taking as a case study Presidente Prudente, a city located west of Sao Paulo State. Its focus is to discuss the relationship between the urban and housing policies and enterprises implementation by the private initiative and funded by the Caixa Economica Federal, through the PAR, its mechanisms and effects on the production of urban space. It is evident in the urban policy of this city that the absence of specific guidelines towards housing policy leads to a direct action of private capital, which contributes to the production of urban segregation and exclusion.
Urban policy; Social interest housing; Urban expansion; Socio-spatial segregation; Residential leasing program