Socio-environmental management in large cities: why look from Brazil to the initiatives of indian megalopolises?

Abstract

In view of different models of public management in the world, it is worth to observe other experiences in socio-environmental realities more similar to the Brazilian cities in development. In BRICS scenario - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - this paper identifies the three largest Indian cities, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, as a possibility of diffusion of public policies to Brazilian cities besides proximity to factors such as slum, public corruption and social inequality. The hypothesis raised is that Indian reality would be closer to Brazilian reality than European realities (including Russia) or Chinese reality, but the means of diffusion of information in Brazil – International Relations think tanks - does not deal with Indian experiences. To test the hypothesis, the analysis of economic, demographic, social and environmental data from governmental sources and from international organizations such as the BRICS, UNDP, UN-HABITAT and World Bank in the years 2000 and 2010, as well as the major think tanks in Brazil in International Relations: CEBRI and BRICS Policy Center. As a result, it is observed that the challenges of the great Indian and Brazilian cities are similar, but there is little material in Portuguese in the International Relations think tanks that could guide the practices of Brazilian public managers.

Keywords:
Cities; India; Brazil; Public policy