IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/regeco/v112y2025ics0166046225000092.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Roads, transit and spatial patterns of urbanization in São Paulo: Evidence from the second half of the twentieth century

Author

Listed:
  • Costa, Adriano Borges
  • Zegras, P. Christopher
  • Zheng, Siqi

Abstract

This article presents evidence of distinct long-term impacts from road and rail infrastructures on urban outgrowth and densification in São Paulo, Brazil (1947–1997) within a Global South context. Using long-difference ordinary least squares models and an instrumental variable approach, we find that the construction of avenues and arterial roads across urbanized areas drove urban expansion and accounted for forty percent of the outgrowth during this 50-year period. In contrast, rail transit investments fostered vertical neighborhood development responsible for one-third of the increase in floor area ratio, while also promoting land use specialization by attracting commercial buildings to central areas and stimulating residential real estate development in peripheral zones. Our findings align with patterns observed in the Global North, reinforcing the broader relationship between transportation investments and urban form.

Suggested Citation

  • Costa, Adriano Borges & Zegras, P. Christopher & Zheng, Siqi, 2025. "Roads, transit and spatial patterns of urbanization in São Paulo: Evidence from the second half of the twentieth century," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:112:y:2025:i:c:s0166046225000092
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2025.104092
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046225000092
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2025.104092?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:112:y:2025:i:c:s0166046225000092. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/regec .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.