Economic impacts of São Paulo downtown rehabilitation: a simplified approach with micro-foundations

Economic impacts of Sao Paulo downtown rehabilitation: a simplified approach with micro-foundations. Regional Studies. This paper evaluates the 2002 city proposal for renewing downtown Sao Paulo in Brazil. The model proposed estimates the impact on the composition of families by income strata and firms by industry if the proposal were actually implemented. Employment is key for downtown Sao Paulo because the deterioration of the area started when companies moved out, thereby reducing the incentive to live downtown. This paper contributes to the study of renovation programmes in terms of methodology, proposing a cost-effective strategy for forecasting fundamental variables and to the discussion of the future of downtown Sao Paulo, sharing characteristics with other cities.