The São Paulo Department of Housing and Urban Development has been awarded the prestigious UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award for a slum upgrading programme supported by the Cities Alliance.
The São Paulo Department of Housing and Urban Development has been awarded the prestigious UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award for a slum upgrading programme supported by the Cities Alliance.
The award was announced during the sixth World Urban Forum in Naples 1-7 September 2012. It was received by SEHAB Director Bete França, who has worked closely with the Cities Alliance.
The largest city in Brazil, São Paulo is home to some 800,000 people living in an estimated 2,000 favelas (unplanned informal settlements). Many of these favela residents lack clean water supplies, electricity, access to decent housing, health care or education.
The SEHAB programme works with a range of local, national and international institutions and other partners, including the Cities Alliance. It has had a major impact in uplifting and integrating the city’s poorest residents, helping turn São Paulo into a more inclusive city for its citizens. From 2005 - 2012 the programme benefited more than 40,000 families in 41 city districts, and plans are underway to extended it to assist a further 134,000 families.
The Cities Alliance has been working on technical cooperation projects with the Municipality of São Paulo since 2001, collaborating with city administrations on social housing and slum upgrading as well as the design and implementation of urban planning and knowledge tools. The partnership activities have showcased good practice models of scaling up planning and urban development through policies and programmes.
